Have the secrets of the sauce been revealed?

Former Lea & Perrins accountant Brian Keogh allegedly found the recipe in a skip by the firm’s Worcester factory in Midland Road, where he worked throughout the 1970s.

Mr Keogh, who retired in 1991, found rough encoded notes about the recipe’s secret ingredients, believed to date back to the mid-1800s.

Mr Keogh was the author of a book called The Secret Sauce and he collected many items connected with Lea & Perrins before he died in 2006, aged 80.

His daughter Bonnie Clifford, age 57, of Perdiswell Street, Barbourne, Worcester, who now owns the documents, is working with Worcester Museum to have his collection put on public display. She said: “My father saved the document’s life – it was destined for the scrapheap and he has helped to keep the mystery alive.

“We’re still protecting the secret of the recipe and we’re not releasing all of it.

“It shows you all the ingredients and we think it’s the original because on the very first page, there’s a list all crossed out and that’s how women worked on their recipes.

“My father always wanted to see it go on display so that the people of Worcester could see it.

“I’m not sure if I could make the sauce – I have the ingredients but I wouldn’t know how to go through the purification techniques. I would need millions of pounds and a factory – so I think I’ll leave it to the experts.”

Philippa Tinsley, collections manager at Worcester Museum, said they would conduct handwriting tests on the document.

“It’s certainly more than 100 years old and is definitely a recipe for Worcestershire sauce but we just have to ascertain how old it is to make sure it’s the original,” she said.

“We’re pleased to be in discussions with Bonnie to put this on display – Worcestershire sauce is known the world over and this is an amazing discovery.”

The recipe book has a sticker on it, confirming it was purchased from a stationers at 61 Broad Street, Worcester, next door to the original L&P chemist shop at 63 Broad Street.