HP Sauce No meal in England is complete without HP Sauce, "The Classic Spicy Sauce."

When Jason first pushed the bottle toward me, I was a bit dubious. I remembered a saying I had heard when I lived in Alabama. "Grits are a cruel joke Southerns play on Yankees. They all sit around and talk about how good they are, just to laugh as they watch some damn Yankee eat the bland, white hominy and try to act as if it's tasty."

But I actually grew to like grits, and the same is true of HP sauce. It's much like steak sauce, only more versatile.

I used it on eggs. I used it on steak. I used it on baked beans. And chips. And bacon. And chops.

In fact, there wasn't much I didn't put it on. I came to see a bottle of HP Sauce, complete with a drawing of Big Ben on the label, as an essential part of my meals in England.

But what is it, exactly? Well, the label says it's "Made from a secret recipe, blending a special selection of the world's finest tomatoes, dates and spices, with malt vinegar naturally matured in wooden vats and woter from HP's own well."

Good enough for me.

I grew to like it so much that when I returned to the States, I went to the Central Market, a foofy, health-food Birkenstock-wearing spinoff of a supermarket chain in Austin, Texas, and bought a bottle.

Rest assured, it's "Suitable for vegetarians," and there's even a fruity version that I opted not to sample.

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