Harvey's Sauce (Victorian) - Anybody tried it or made it?

I keep coming across this. All sorts of recipes ("receipts") from the Victorian era called for Harvey's Sauce. Particularly made-over recipes such as those found in the Family Save-all.

Harvey's Sauce had been made since Victorian times, but production of the original secret family recipe has ceased. Something with that long of a run must be worth looking into.

Anybody have any insight or experience with this?

Fascinating find, Douglas!
I don’t know Harvey’s sauce specifically and would like to know more.
There are many similarities to this recipe in contemporary cooking. I am a big fan of Red Boat brand fish sauce (fermented anchovies) and regularily use it in Asian and Mediterranean cooking, often with homemade pink prickly pear vinegar (Opuntia is the source of the scaly parasite harvested for pink cochineal powder). I also use canned anchovies in various sauces such as anchovy infused pestos.
Another household staple is Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, which shares many common ingredients with Harvey’s sauce: (anchovies, vinegar, soy, garlic, chili extract which serves the same purpose as cayenne). For more info and a 17th century recipe (footnote 5), see Worcestershire sauce
Good luck with your research Douglas.

Here’s an interesting anecdote:
At today’s Thanksgiving gathering, I asked if anyone had ever heard of Harvey’s sauce. One of the guests from Chicago said that her grandmother (born in late 19th century) often used Harvey’s sauce in her cooking. When I asked if her grandmother made it, the answer was “Oh no, she bought it.” Sensing my confusion, she then clarified, “No one could pronounce Worcestershire sauce. They called it Harvey’s sauce.”

^^ Awesome! LOL!

Anchovies and Cochineal are not somethings I usually have in my cupboard.

I might be able to buy anchovies at the local market though I have never looked for them.

Cochineal powder is probably not sold there.

There are modern versions of the recipe I posted. They use red food colouring instead of Cochineal powder. Supermarkets carry anchovies or anchovy paste -- it's often used in Caesar salad dressing made from scratch.

Comments from the cookeatshare .com recipe say: "Harvey's is somewhat like Worcestershire but sharper, hotter and more garlicky. Some earlier versions use walnut ketchup in place of Leslie's imported "Indian soy.""

Apparently Harvey's sauce was renamed Lazenby sauce after the trademark ran out.

It's still popular in South Africa (now made by Maggi). But the description looks nothing like the recipe I found.

From the Maggi SA website: "When you add MAGGI LAZENBY to your dish, it enriches the flavour. Our traditional recipe, made with rich molasses, coriander, nutmeg, ginger and cloves transforms any dish into something special. Whatever meal you are preparing, prepare it with MAGGI LAZENBY to dash in the flavour. MAGGI LAZENBY adds unique flavour to: casseroles, curries, gravies, soups, roasted meat, steak, chops, fish, eggs, stew, stir-frys and even tomatoe cocktails!"

I actually made a batch of Harvey's Sauce, tonight. I found it as an ingredient in a recipe I wanted to try, from a cookbook focused on South African food from 1914.

It looks like the recipes for Harvey's Sauce replicas, over the years, were designed to approximate the original flavors without things like walnut ketchup and mushroom ketchup. I researched several of the replica recipes as well as ingredients from walnut and mushroom ketchups. I didn't want to go to the store so I did make a few substitutions.

About 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
About 1/2 cup brown sugar
About 1/4 cup water
1 T tamari sauce plus 1 T jaggery sugar to approximate India Soy Sauce
1.5 t fish sauce to approximate the 3 anchovies because I had none at the time
1 T tamarind paste
1 t ground mustard seed
1/2 t ground ginger
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground allspice
1/2 t urfa bieber pepper (as a sub for cayenne pepper)
1/8 cup grated onion (maybe a little less)
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 t salt (not iodized)
1/4 t smoked black pepper, freshy ground
1 T lemon juice
1/4 t Trader Joe's mushroom and company seasoning (to approximate the mushroom flavor)

Just cooked it all in a pot. Let it cool. Put it in a jar. It doesn't make much. It will easily be gone before it gets too old.

It's sweeter that Worcestershire sauce, much more complex than modern ketchup, way better than A-1, and more interesting than anchovy sauces. The text time, I want to use anchovies. Or possibly increase fish sauce if I do the substitution.

Wow, Amy, that seems like amazing stuff! Thanks for posting!

I made this recipe from Warne’s Model Cookery People’s Edition 1869.
Hot Sauce, resembling Worcestershire Sauce.
Time, ten days.
199. Three-quarters of an ounce of Cayenne pepper; one quart of vinegar; two tablespoonfuls of soy; three cloves of garlic; five anchovies ; three cloves of shallots.Mix well and rub through a sieve three-quarters of an ounce of Cayenne pepper, two tablespoonfuls of soy, three cloves of
garlic pounded, five anchovies bruised fine, and three cloves of shallots pounded, add one quart of vinegar.Strain, and keep it corked up for ten days, then bottle it up for use can be strained or not, as preferred.

It is actually quite nice. Great to add to a stew or soup. I would recommend trying it.

Hi Sandra. Great first post! Welcome aboard.