In the United States, the brand name A.1. has basically become synonymous with brown steak sauce, though the brand itself would prefer that folks expand their horizons beyond steak. The company changed the sauce's name to "A.1. Original Sauce" a few years ago, and continually gives examples of new ways to use it.
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00:00Have you heard the story about the A1 Sauce bottles that kept showing up at a library
00:05in Ohio?
00:06This popular condiment isn't just known for slathering on your favorite meats.
00:11Keep watching for some vital information about this iconic steak sauce.
00:15A1 Sauce was invented by Henderson William Brand, who was a personal chef for Britain's
00:21King George IV from 1824 to 1831.
00:25As the story goes, George tasted the sauce and voiced his approval by pronouncing it
00:30A1.
00:31Brand was born in Durham, a city in northeast England, the son of Thomas Brand, an innkeeper
00:37and brewer.
00:38Nobody knows for sure if a young Henderson worked in his father's kitchen, but it seems
00:43likely because at the tender age of 12, he was working as an undercook in the kitchen
00:48of the future king.
00:50George was known as a gastronome, with a taste for haute cuisine.
00:54He ascended to the throne in 1820, and shortly afterwards, Brand became Yeoman of the Mouth,
01:00a position akin to that of a sous chef.
01:03Brand would later publish an updated version of Simpson's Cookery, a popular cookbook at
01:08the time, and in 1835 he set up a shop in London.
01:12His first two products were Essence of Chicken and Essence of Beef.
01:16After declaring bankruptcy, rebranding, and trading as H.W. Brand, he was appointed the
01:21Cook and Manager of Cuisine at the 1862 International Exhibition in London.
01:27That was where he debuted Brand's International Sauce, where it was ranked A1.
01:32Considering that it's existed in some form or another since 1862, A1 has a rather unsurprising
01:40list of ingredients, with a few exceptions.
01:42Notable among them is raisin paste, H.W. Brand's stroke of genius that has been used in other
01:48sauces and prepared foods ever since.
01:51The antioxidants in raisins helped slow the decay of beef in the days before refrigeration,
01:57and they also helped mask the taste of decaying beef.
02:00Apparently, even kings couldn't avoid eating some funky steak in the 19th century.
02:05Distilled vinegar also has a utility beyond taste, as it's the world's oldest meat tenderizer.
02:11In its earliest inception, A1 sauce used the more expensive malt vinegar.
02:16Other versions of the sauce also utilized orange marmalade instead of orange puree.
02:21The spices and herbs are a trade secret, though.
02:24It's safe to say that back in H.W. Brand's day, there was no corn syrup, caramel color,
02:29or xanthan gum.
02:31In 2014, Kraft Foods Group dropped steak from the sauce brand's name.
02:37So why exactly was A1 steak sauce no longer just for steak?
02:41Among animal proteins consumed at home, beef has been on the decline, while chicken is
02:46on the rise.
02:47As of 2014, 65 percent of A1 sauce was slathered on steak and not on another protein source.
02:53Clearly, a change was needed if A1 was going to buck beef's declining popularity.
02:59So an ad campaign promoted A1 as a sauce that can go with almost everything, which was a
03:04way of helping to solidify the brand's long-term survival in a world of changing consumer habits.
03:11But you might be surprised to learn that the name change was actually a shift back to A1's
03:15original branding.
03:17It actually wasn't until the 1960s that it added steak to its name in a pivotal shift
03:22to beef.
03:23Originally, it was first marketed as a high-quality, all-purpose, saucy sauce different from any
03:29other appreciated on Welsh rare bits, broiled lobster, and English mutton chops.
03:36Even though A1 sauce has a thoroughly British origin story, it isn't widely available in
03:41the United Kingdom.
03:42Instead, it's only manufactured there for export.
03:45It was previously available in the UK as A1 without the periods, but it was eventually
03:51phased out of British supermarkets in the 1970s.
03:54Although A1 is perhaps the only American version of a thick brown steak sauce, the brown sauce
04:00market in the UK is quite competitive.
04:03Options across the pond include the likes of HP and Daddy's.
04:07The former accounts for 71 percent of the UK's brown sauce market.
04:12A1 simply couldn't keep up with the competition.
04:14However, you can sometimes find imported American A1 sauce at larger supermarkets in Britain.
04:20And if you're wondering if brown sauce and steak sauce are the same thing, nobody has
04:25a definitive answer.
04:26But brown sauce is generally popular with breakfast, whereas not very many folks are
04:31slathering steak sauce on toast.
04:34In 2017, in the town of Avon Lake, Ohio, an unidentified person with a mysterious motive
04:41kept leaving empty bottles of A1 stashed in different areas of the public library.
04:47Employees found the first bottle in the newspaper section, and after that, up to 40 more appeared
04:52hidden behind books and plants.
04:54All were clean, empty, and had the labels removed.
04:57The library's surveillance video was unable to reveal the identity of this mystery bottle
05:02leaver.
05:03Employees theorized that the bottles had been used to smuggle in alcohol, but that hypothesis
05:09didn't hold up to a smell test.
05:11The bottles only smelled of tangy A1 sauce, and not of booze.
05:15Staff members also ruled out a teenage culprit, as the bottles appeared to be left early in
05:20the day.
05:21While this story might not sound exciting enough for an episode of Unsolved Mysteries,
05:26the case of the mysterious A1 bottles at the Avon Lake Public Library remains open.
05:32Home fragrances usually fall into the floral or herbal family.
05:36But in 2018, A1 Sauce decided to usher in a brave new world in fragrances by introducing
05:43a line of meat-scented candles for Father's Day.
05:46According to A1's promotion,
05:47"...now you don't have to do the whole cooking thing to get the hearty smell."
05:52The candles came in three meaty flavors, or rather, scents — Original Meat, Backyard
05:57Barbecue, and Classic Hamburger.
06:00As gimmicky as they were, the candles proved to be pretty popular, as they sold out in
06:04one week.
06:05My favorite smell in the world is wood fire, and like, this feels very close to that.
06:10I want these candles nowhere near my house.
06:13As weird as it sounds, A1 isn't the only food brand to venture into the candle-making business.
06:18KFC launched a limited-edition gravy-scented candle in 2019, as well as a very limited-edition
06:24run of SPF 30 sunscreen that smelled like fried chicken in 2016.
06:30In 2014, White Castle released an original slider-scented candle to support Autism Speaks
06:35and in February 2020, McDonald's debuted its burger-scented candle.
06:40Taco Bell seemed to toy with the idea with a Facebook post back in 2011, but nothing
06:45came of it.
06:47Having been around for more than a century, the A1 name clearly has a degree of staying
06:51power, and some competitors have attempted to ride the coattails of its success.
06:56But one sauce cellar took it a little further than the law allowed.
07:00In the early 1990s, a Connecticut deli owner named Arnold K. was selling his own unique
07:06condiment at a store and local retailers.
07:08He called it A2.
07:10Needless to say, this didn't go over well with the people at Nabisco, which owned A1
07:15at the time.
07:16In 1991, the company filed a trademark lawsuit against K., who admitted that A2 was used
07:22to piggyback off A1's brand recognition, though he also argued it was intended to be a pun.
07:28And since the sauces tasted different, he contended that customers wouldn't believe
07:32the two sauces were part of the same product line.
07:34The court wasn't buying it, though, as they ruled in favor of Nabisco.
07:38I don't buy it.
07:40K. was prohibited from using the A2 name, and he was also ordered to recall all bottles
07:45that were on shelves at the time and have them destroyed.
07:48If you happen to find yourself north of the border with a hankering for A1, you're in
07:53luck.
07:54Well, kind of.
07:55K. does sell the sauce in Canada, but it doesn't taste anything like the A1 that you're used
07:59to in the USA.
08:01These two different versions are concocted from distinctly different recipes.
08:05They're both made from a tomato puree base, and contain orange and raisin flavorings,
08:10vinegar, and salt.
08:11But the Canadian version is heavy on the sweet stuff, as it's made with sugar, caramel, and
08:16molasses.
08:17The American version, meanwhile, derives its flavor in part from dried onion and garlic.
08:22The American A1 sauce also uses caramel coloring, so it has the same look but none of the sweetness.
08:28Furthermore, the Canadian sauce has a much thicker consistency, while American A1 is
08:33a bit runny.
08:34Finally, there's the bottle and label, as the Canadian version doesn't include the periods
08:38in the name and comes in a squeeze bottle, while the American edition has a twist cap
08:43bottle.
08:44Oh, Canada!
08:45It's no secret that A1 sauce makes for an excellent and spicy addition to any meatloaf
08:51recipe.
08:52In 2009, some clever ad wizards had a brilliant idea when they recruited the musician known
08:57as Meatloaf to appear in an A1 commercial.
09:00In the ad, the singer whips up a batch of his namesake dish and drizzles on some A1
09:05sauce before digging in.
09:06He enjoys his first bite so much that he then begins belting out his famous tune,
09:11"'I'd Do Anything for Love.'"
09:13Mr. Loaf does make one important tweak to the lyrics.
09:17Instead of singing the refrain the usual way, as,
09:20But I won't do that, he instead croons,
09:21"'And I always do this," as he pours A1 from a giant-sized bottle onto his food.
09:27It turns out that A1 partnered with Meatloaf at just the right time in his life, as he
09:31was previously a vegetarian, from 1981 to 1992.
09:36And then in 2019, he announced that he was going to try veganism in the coming year.
09:41A1 sauce has been around for a really long time, so it's safe to say that people enjoy
09:45the taste of the original recipe.
09:47But that doesn't mean that the makers of this popular condiment are resting on their laurels.
09:52In fact, Kraft continues concocting new varieties.
09:56That includes the likes of A1 Sweet Chili Garlic Sauce, which contains mildly spicy
10:01cayenne pepper, red bell pepper, and traces of garlic.
10:05Kraft recommends using this with chicken nuggets or buffalo wings.
10:09There's also A1 Bold and Spicy, which is made with Tabasco sauce, and A1 Sweet Hickory,
10:14which includes bullseye barbecue sauce in its recipe.
10:17For those looking for a peppery tang, A1 also offers a smoky black pepper variety,
10:22while the Spicy Chipotle offers a decidedly Mexican flavor profile.
10:27But that's not all.
10:28A1 has also expanded its product line to include marinades, perhaps because they realized that
10:34the original sauce was already commonly used that way.
10:37There are a wide variety of marinade flavors available, including Classic, New York Steakhouse,
10:43Chicago Steakhouse, Texas Mesquite, and even New Orleans Cajun.
10:47When A1 took the steak off its name in 2014, it simultaneously unveiled a new tagline,
10:55"'For almost everything, almost.'"
10:58We're pretty sure that by everything, they meant every food.
11:01But some people have taken a few creative liberties with this motto, as they've utilized
11:06A1 sauce for a variety of household tasks.
11:10According to FoodReference.com, one of the most common uses for A1 sauce outside of the
11:15kitchen is polishing metal.
11:17That's because it contains both vinegar and tomato paste, which are both acidic, and acid
11:22can help dissolve tarnish off of metals.
11:25Therefore, vinegar and tomatoes are often used to polish copper, brass, and silver.
11:29But there's more, as A1 sauce can also be used to repair scratches on wood furniture
11:34and shined shoes.
11:35The latter use has also been promoted by some Reddit users, but the most unique A1 claim
11:41is probably that it can be used to relieve bug bites.
11:44How this idea came to be and whether or not it's accurate isn't entirely clear, but it
11:49likely stems, again, from the presence of vinegar, which is known to cool skin and reduce
11:54burning and stinging.