A-1 love it or hate it

[The Ghan]

Bovril 136yrs old and Bisto 117yrs old.

No wonder it tastes a bit off

 

[caseydog]

Ahhh, looked it up - potato granules!

I definitely thickens up, and in a hurry. I sometimes have to add a bit more water.

CD

 

[In A Pickle]

No wonder it tastes a bit off

What can I do, it takes me a long ol’ time to get through that stuff..

 

[taxlady]

I enjoy the flavor of A-1, but I don't like to drown my steak in it. I always put a small blob of it on the side of the plate and do teenie little dips of bites of steak into the sauce, maybe every 2nd or 3rd bite. For the most part, I'd rather taste the meat and nothing else.

I do that with ketchup and French fries. I have done it with other sauces and steak. Like you, I want to taste the meat without distractions. Well, some sauces I like better and more of those can go on the steak, but I'll still want some of my steak nekkid.

 

[The Ghan]

Whether it is steak, hamburgers, sausages, chips (fries) etc I always have the sauce, be it steak sauce, BBQ, HP or tomatoe on the side so I can dip the meat in it rather than cover it

 

[Gone Hiking]

A-1 and HP Sauce are similar. Both are bad, but HP Sauce is worse.

Similar to you, I liked A-1 when I was a kid, but my dad turned steak into shoe leather on the grill, so something was needed to lubricate the shoe leather in order to swallow it. My parents also didn't season any foods, so the sauce gave the steak some kind of flavor. It was certainly a step up from ketchup, which is what my parents usually served with steak.

CD

Ditto, A-1 is what I used as a kid to soften well done shoe leather in order to choke it down. It didn't matter if my family made steak or if we ordered it at Golden Corral... you got well done, tasteless shoe leather every time. Perhaps that's where my disdain comes from...

 

[Meryl]

LOL, we have Bisto here too. If I remember correctly it was the go to before Bovril and the like came along.
Doesn't it have the flour or a thickener already in it?

In those days, @dragnlaw , I didn't even know what a thickener was, I didn't have a clue about cooking, my mum and dad were the cooks.

 

[Meryl]

Don’t know about over the pond, in the UK Bovril and Bisto are quite separate, ones a drink the others for pouring on your taters

Had a look, Bovril has been about roughly 20 years longer.
Bovril 136yrs old and Bisto 117yrs old.

I was thinking that was the difference yes.

 

[Meryl]

When I cook a pot roast, I usually just blend the juices and veggies together, to make a natural gravy, adding corn starch to thicken, if necessary.

 

[TheSoloChef]

As others have said the Houses of Parliament sauce (also known as HP Sauce) we have here in the UK is a very close contender to the USA A1 sauce, however I've never known anyone to put it on anything other than a Bacon Roll or Bacon Sandwich!

 

[caseydog]

When I cook a pot roast, I usually just blend the juices and veggies together, to make a natural gravy, adding corn starch to thicken, if necessary.

Pan drippings and a corn starch slurry make a good, quick gravy.

CD

 

[taxlady]

As others have said the Houses of Parliament sauce (also known as HP Sauce) we have here in the UK is a very close contender to the USA A1 sauce, however I've never known anyone to put it on anything other than a Bacon Roll or Bacon Sandwich!

Calling it Houses of Parliament sauce reminded me of my Scottish ex. One year he wanted to blow up an empty HP bottle on Guy Fawkes Day.

 

[dragnlaw]

In those days, @dragnlaw , I didn't even know what a thickener was, I didn't have a clue about cooking, my mum and dad were the cooks.

LOL, not far off, pretty much the same here but I remember seeing it often. I think when I did start using it I liked the guarantee of no lumps. I didn't really know too much about thickening things and for a beginner it worked! and that's what counted! LOL

 

[Linda0818]

I do that with ketchup and French fries. I have done it with other sauces and steak. Like you, I want to taste the meat without distractions. Well, some sauces I like better and more of those can go on the steak, but I'll still want some of my steak nekkid.

I do that with fries as well. A small dollop of ketchup on the plate and that's it. I'm a 'dipper', not a 'scooper', so I don't use much sauce with anything. Never understood how people can dump ketchup onto their fries

I guess I just don't like my food drowned in sauce, period. I don't use much dressing on salads. I don't put much sauce on pasta. Etc etc etc.

 

[jennyema]

Bisto is a good base for a gravy. I doctor it up and use it when I want a small amount of brown gravy. It's like Heinz baked beans, which is bland out of the can, but it can be doctored up to be pretty good. Of course, it's easier to just buy beans that I already like right out of the can (Bush's).

CD

Never heard of Bisto. Where do you buy this? Sounds like something i need.

 

[jennyema]

I will put ketchup on almost anything ….

 

[taxlady]

I do that with fries as well. A small dollop of ketchup on the plate and that's it. I'm a 'dipper', not a 'scooper', so I don't use much sauce with anything. Never understood how people can dump ketchup onto their fries

I guess I just don't like my food drowned in sauce, period. I don't use much dressing on salads. I don't put much sauce on pasta. Etc etc etc.

That reminds of something that happened when I was seven or eight years old. The Brownie troop was out at a resto. An adult leader was sitting next to me. I was carefully trying to pour a little bit of ketchup onto the edge of my fries. I was carefully tapping, because I didn't want a big bloop of ketchup to rush out. I was feeling very adult for doing this carefully and not rushing. The adult got impatient and told me to hurry up. I told her why I was carefully tapping. She grabbed the back of the bottle and tipped a giant bloop of ketchup all over my fries. I think the ketchup got on some of my other food too. I was horrified. But that bitch got the ketchup bottle a minute or two quicker.

 

[msmofet]

I make a steak dipping sauce that includes A-1 and worcestershire sauce among other ingredients.
When I’m out and order steak I’ll ask for both and mix them together.

 

[Linda0818]

That reminds of something that happened when I was seven or eight years old. The Brownie troop was out at a resto. An adult leader was sitting next to me. I was carefully trying to pour a little bit of ketchup onto the edge of my fries. I was carefully tapping, because I didn't want a big bloop of ketchup to rush out. I was feeling very adult for doing this carefully and not rushing. The adult got impatient and told me to hurry up. I told her why I was carefully tapping. She grabbed the back of the bottle and tipped a giant bloop of ketchup all over my fries. I think the ketchup got on some of my other food too. I was horrified. But that bitch got the ketchup bottle a minute or two quicker.

She would have gotten the ketchup bottle back from me, alright - all over the front of her uniform.

 

[Kathleen]

I love vegemite. However, my first experience was when a friend held out the jar and said, "Hey, taste this." Not good off the spoon but on toast with butter....mmmm.