Keep a Fork with You
This could get weird.
What do Michael Lee Aday, aka Meatloaf (RIP),
Nicki Minaj, Tom Colicchio, and yep, ME all have in common?
We all like A.1. Steak Sauce.
A.1. STEAK Sauce
I know… I've loved it for a while now. But was ashamed. I owned and operated restaurants. I'm a Food Person, a former Foodie (name change). I just couldn't stand up and admit it. So I'm doing it now. Before you judge, I don't drown my steak in it, just a careful little drizzle. Also, when I eat meat, I order it medium-rare, sometimes medium, to make sure there’s a good char. I'm not that “no pink” person. My cut of choice is a tenderloin. I can hear the groans. Calm down.
Quite honestly, I rarely eat steak. No reason, I just prefer fish and vegetables. Last summer, though, I found myself in a small town in Northern MN where the steaks are prepared perfectly and the one and only fish, salmon, is cooked to beyond well. No med-rare there; that would be sushi!
After scouring the menu, rejecting lame pasta dishes, batter-fried everything, and BBQ ribs, which you could have a combo with anything batter-fried, I settled on The Petite Filet. Then I whispered, "Do you have A1 Sauce? I could ask for it. I'm old-ish, and I don't care what anyone thinks of me any more, but I still whispered. There was no hint of horror or snobbiness on her face. I was reading her right because I knew the usual waitstaff reaction. After all, it was me back in the '80s.
Me as your waitress:
"Ok, your dinners come with Sherry Consommé" (blank stare back, so I stared too, pencil posed)
"All dinners come with a baked potato with our house butter "(fricken butter plus Top the Tator gloriousness).
"Choice of dressing? You want French?" (aka Western, inward sigh)
At this point, I knew the answer to how would you like your steak/prime rib done?
"Well done, no pink." And… "Do you have steak sauce?"
My RBF went beyond resting, and let's say I wore my thoughts on my face.
Also, I'll add all those choices generally came with a low tip.
Though that could have been my RBF in play too.
Someday I'll tell you about this man who pointed out how my face looked like I didn't even want to be here. PS that was a happy day, and I was being super nice.
Even back in the '80s, I liked A.1. But, again, I would never ever admit it. Ever. Plus, I found out there were raisins in the ingredient list, and then A.1. lost its glamor. I was not a raisin fan.
Then last summer, when my Petite Filet arrived, it was cooked perfectly, charred on all sides. I drizzled a little puddle in the corner on my sizzling platter and dabbed my first bite in. (cue music Mem‘ries light the corners of my mind). It was tart, sour, salty, sweet, with an undertone of pepper and orange zing. It was, dare I say, umami-rich and so very tasty. Was I getting my steak groove back on?
Let's move on to The Story of A.1. If you are under 40, this is the last thing you will be interested in. I mean, it's not a cool Vietnamese immigrant story who bottled a Sriracha sauce and then put his zodiac sign on the label. Or even cooler, the Fly by Jing Sauce. Which has a cult following, and I have consumed the kool-aid. That stuff goes on everything! Could it work on a steak? Probably, but I’ve sealed the deal with A.1. for now.
King George himself and Chef Brand
A.1. Sauce (note it is A period 1 period) was invented around 1824 by Henderson William Brand, a personal chef for King George the IV. Supposedly, King George tasted the sauce and declared it was A-1.
Some find that unlikely because of Lloyd's Register, a maritime classification system, which started in 1764, using a rating system beginning with A to rate ship's hulls, along with a number which began as 1 being the best, So the best of the best, in ship hull speak, is A-1. But perhaps the King was aware of that, and it would make sense that a sauce maker trying to sell his recipe would tout it as A1 quality.
But before we move forward with Hendersons successful sauce, why was he making sauce for the steak anyway?
I know that Philadelphia scientist James Mease was credited with developing ketchup because I am a huge fan of, Foods that Built America. Ketchup has roots in China (interesting, right?) and was basically made to help cover up the less than desirable not-so-fresh meat available to everyone before proper refrigeration. Their stomachs were stronger than ours, so all they needed was a glob of ketchup to get that needed protein down. Henry John Heinz, who founded Heinz started selling the condiment, and it is now history! The ketchup story is a good one so do catch the episode sometime.
So, anyway, after King George died in 1830, Henderson started his own business. His sauce became popular, even winning awards. G.F Heublein & Bros. (a major wine and spirit importer) began to import A1 Steak Sauce to America in 1906, eventually purchased the rights to the sauce, and in 1918 began manufacturing A1 in Hartford, Connecticut. All this happened during prohibition, so this non-alcoholic "sauce" saved Heublein's ass. After several acquisitions and mergers, A1 Steak Sauce is now part of Kraft Foods.
A.1. Original Sauce
Kraft Foods Group dropped the "steak" from the iconic steak sauce brand's name in 2014. A.1. Steak Sauce was no longer just for steak. Precisely because people were not eating as much steak as the previous years So how about chicken, baked potatoes and eggs.
What is A1 sauce made of? A1 sauce is made of tomato puree (tomato paste, water), vinegar, corn syrup, salt, raisin paste, crushed orange puree, spices and herbs, dried garlic powder, caramel color, dried onions, potassium sorbate, xanthan gum, and celery seeds.
The genius addition.
Notable is raisin paste; I'm telling you, it is delicious. H.W. Brand's genius addition of raisin paste continued to be used in other sauces and prepared foods. The antioxidants in raisins helped slow the decay of beef in the days before refrigeration and helped mask the taste of decaying beef. Oh, back to that bit again…
And the other stuff?
Spices and Herbs:
A corporate secret, of course. Chef Alton Brown thinks it could include dried mushroom powder, allspice, white pepper, and anchovy. That makes perfect sense. Anchovy= umami
Caramel Color is just:
“Sugar or similar carbohydrates are browned at about 130 degrees Fahrenheit. The brown tint eliminates the red of the tomatoes, ensuring that this steak sauce won't look like rebranded ketchup.”
Xanthan Gum:
I know. But ok, I'm am delicately dipping. "A polysaccharide excreted by the Xanthomonas campestris bacterium, this gummy substance has a peculiar viscosity: It thickens the mix, stabilizing the ingredients, but when shaken or poured, it behaves in a more liquid manner."
Potassium Sorbate:
A quick double-check search reminded me there was nothing to fear here. Unless you need to restrict your salt, but I don't. "Potassium sorbate is a salt of sorbic acid naturally found in some fruits (like the berries of mountain ash). The commercial ingredient is synthetically produced, creating what is termed a "nature identical" chemical (chemically equivalent to the molecule found in nature). Today, this preservative can be found in wine, cheese, beer, dried meat, soft drinks, and many other food products. This food additive is often used to improve shelf stability and prevent bacteria and mold growth. This ingredient is so prevalent in processed food because it does not change the quality of the product and is also water-soluble."
What’s in his cleaning bucket?
Finally, guess what? There are more uses for A1 Steak Sauce:
• Use it to repair scratches on wood furniture.
• Use it to shine shoes (preferably brown shoes).
• Supposedly relieves the itching from insect bites.
• Use it to polish and remove tarnish from copper and brass (high acidity from the vinegar & tomato content).
You know my story now, so the other celebs?
Yes, they add A.1. to this.
Meatloaf (Michael) made a commercial about A1. He was cooking; meatloaf of course, and drizzles on some A.1. sauce before digging in. The rock singer enjoys his first bite so much that he begins belting out his famous song "I'd Do Anything for Love." Meat Loaf does make one tweak to the song lyrics. Instead of singing the refrain, "But I won't do that," he sings, "And I always do this," as he pours A.1. from a giant-sized bottle onto his meatloaf. He later became or maybe was vegan at the time, haha.
According to every article I read, Nicki Minaj committed the ULTIMATE steakhouse sin. She was at a posh steakhouse in Hollywood, Ca. called Boa Steakhouse. When the dinner arrived, she sent someone out to get her A.1. Steak Sauce because, of course! She doesn't care; she declared she ALWAYS puts A.1. on her meat.
Tom Colicchio is a fan of A.1.! . "I grew up using A.1. The rare times we actually had steak at home, I liked it. I enjoyed it," the celeb chef and "Top Chef" co-host admitted. So when customers at his restaurants began requesting sauce, Colicchio decided to make his own. The house sauce at his Craft restaurants, he says, "is based on the original A.1., which had a lot of anchovy and tamarind and a sort of char flavor with a lot of background notes.”
Remember Nigella Lawson? She was beautiful and slightly voluminous and always ended her shows sneaking to the fridge and taking a huge bite of her leftovers. I loved that. Well, she's skinny now and good for her, but that kind of takes away from the fun. But she has a meatloaf recipe with A.1. So I'm guessing she likes A.1. Is her meatloaf as good as Michael's? I don't know, but here's the link if you want to give it a whirl.
Nigella’s Mini Meatloafs recipe here. And I really hope she grabs a nugget cold, from the fridge at midnight.