Worcestershire sauce encyclopaedist Pliny the Elder writes in his "Historia Naturalis" and the fourth/fifth-century Roman culinary text Apicius includes garum in its recipes. The use of similar fermented anchovy sauces in Europe can be traced back to the 17th century. The Lea & Perrins brand was commercialised in 1837 and has continued to be the leading global brand of Worcestershire sauce. The origin of the Lea & Perrins recipe is unclear. The packaging originally stated that the sauce came "from the recipe of a nobleman in the county". The company has also claimed that "Lord Marcus Sandys, ex-Governor of Bengal" encountered it
Worcestershire sauce including traditional Welsh rarebit, Caesar salad, Oysters Kirkpatrick, and deviled eggs. As both a background flavour and a source of umami (the savoury "fifth flavour"), it is also now added to dishes which historically did not contain it, such as chili con carne and beef stew. It is also used directly as a condiment on steaks, hamburgers, and other finished dishes. The sauce is also used to flavour cocktails such as the Bloody Mary and Caesar. A fermented fish sauce called "garum" was a staple of Greco-Roman cuisine and of the Mediterranean economy of the Roman Empire, as the first-century