A-1 Steak Sauce History and Flagstaff, Arizona - Enjoy!
The A-1 Steak Sauce History goes back to the 18th century in England, but is it possible that the sauce was invented in Arizona?Let us find out!
The history of the A-1 Steak Sauce brand starts in England in the 18th century.There is a compelling local history that claims the steak sauce could have been invented in Arizona.Let's take a look at the officially accepted origin story.
Henderson William Brand was a chef for England's King George IV.According to a rumor, the chef created a delicious steak sauce for the king and he exclaimed it was A1.
The term A-1 would go back to the Lloyd's Register, a maritime classification system which started in 1764.The ship's hull is rated on a letter basis, with A being the highest rating, and the other ship components are rated using a numbering system.The best of the best is what the term A1 at Lloyd's refers to.It would make sense that a sauce maker trying to sell his recipe would tout it as A1 quality if the king stated that Brand's sauce was unknown.
The Brand & Co., created by the chef in 1831, went bankrupt in 1850 and the company's ownership was transferred to W.H.Dence & Mason bought Withall in 1873.The name of the sauce was changed to A-1 after Brand sued Dence & Mason for the rights to his name.
The sauce was not available in the states until 1906.A-1 Steak Sauce changed hands three times and is now owned by a large corporation.It was manufactured and distributed out of the Brand & Co location in London until the 1960's.
The bottle of A-1 states that it was established in 1862.Where would this date fit in the history?Hublein & Brothers was the company that owned the sauce when it was first distributed in the US.This company was established in 1862 and it would make sense that they would have put the established date of their business on their product and that the date would be carried forward and misinterpreted.
The story doesn't leave much room for error and it is likely that it's the true root of the sauce.Let's discover the story behind the possible connection between A-1 and Flagstaff.Window.adsbygoogle is a window.
A group of Mormons were contracted by the railroad in the late 1870s to supply ties for the construction.The settlers built a fort after they moved to the area near Leroux Springs.Fort Moroni was the location of the cabin and the surrounding area became known as Fort Valley.The group started a cattle ranching business called the Mormon Cattle Company after completing their obligation to the railroad.A-1 mountain is a volcanic mountain next to the valley.
The cowboys of the Arizona Cattle Company are said to have eaten less desirable cuts of meat in order to save the best cuts for market, and so they would have become quite inventive with their seasonings.According to Richard Mangum, one of the cowboy cooks came up with a sauce that was strong enough to cut through the rank taste of meat and that it was a hit among the ranchers at the time.The cook sold his formula to a food manufacturer after he felt he had mastered the sauce.
If A-1 was first distributed in the US in 1906, could it be possible that a cowboy cook from Arizona influenced the production of the sauce between 1886 and 1906?It is possible that the Hublein company bought a sauce formula from an Arizona cowboy.There is a glitch in this reasoning.
The name of the steak sauce was changed eight years before the Arizona Cattle Company was founded.
I don't think it's likely that the A-1 steak sauce was invented in Flagstaff, Arizona, but perhaps in some way this inventive chef influenced the formula of the sauce that would ultimately be distributed in the USIt is a good story, but again probably not.
Do you have a story about the area that you would like to tell us?Shoot me an email if you think so.