Notes may contain 150-year-old recipe

WORCESTER, England, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- A former employee of British company Lea and Perrins discovered what may be the original 150-year old recipe for Worcestershire sauce, his daughter says.

Bonnie Clifford said her father, Brian Keogh, who died in 2006, discovered notes while he was working for the Worcester, England, company that date back to the mid-19th century and she is working with the Worcester City Museum to verify whether they contain the company's original Worcestershire sauce recipe, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday.

Experts said the notes are written in two separate styles of handwriting, likely because no one person knew the entire recipe.

"There has always been a lot of secrecy surrounding the recipes and pride that it is made locally," Worcester City Museum collections officer David Nash said. "Not even the staff knew the whole recipe, only parts of it, which would account for the different handwriting, and some of the ingredients were written in code."

"Even with all the ingredients there is no guarantee you would be able to make the sauce as what makes it distinctive is the way it is made, which is still a secret," he said.