On Monday, March 2, 2015 at 9:20:14 AM UTC-8, James Silverton wrote:
> I have two bottles of "brown" sauce sitting in front of me, both of
> which claim to be the "original". A1 says "established 1862" and HP
> claims that it has "set the standard for quality since 1899". I suppose
> various interpretations of the words are possible. Both sauces show the
> usual creative packaging; A1's bottle is 10 oz and HP's 9 oz. A1 belongs
> to Kraft and HP is a "product of Holland" but claims to be British (and
> has a royal appointment to support that).
>
> The ingredient lists of both sauces are very similar but I prefer the
> more acidic A1, even if I like either on steak. I wonder does anyone
> have strong opinions?

I never use either one of them alone as a pour out of the bottle steak sauce.
When I do a steak in my cast iron skillet....sear - sear - oven method.....I then make a sauce in the pan while the steak is resting.

Here is my methodology, and trust me, it's really good:
Add another pat or two of butter to the pan,
put in a good glug or two of red wine,
a couple shakes of worschestershire,
a couple shakes of tamari,
a glug of A1 or HP and let reduce a bit,
then taste and finish with about 1/2 teaspoon or so of brown sugar (takes away the harsh).
Boil a minute more and then serve with the steak.

Sometimes I brown some mushrooms and then add chopped bacon before the rest of the above ingredients.

Try this once. You will never go back to just bottled sauce.