The liquid obtained from salting small anchovies, mixed with chilli, ginger, shallots, garlic, malt and spirit vinegar, soy, tamarind and molasses, matured in oak barrels. In order to protect the secrecy of the formula, the ingredients have, in the past, been referred to officially by code names: Bulimay, Buggy, Bugbear, Bugler, Bulldog, Buglehorn and Bullcalf to name but a few. The story goes that Marcus Lord Sandys, returning from India, commissioned Worcester pharmacists John Lea and William Perrins, to make up his secret recipe. When they tasted it they found it so disgusting that they put it to one side and forgot about it. Years later they rediscovered it and the fiery liquid was born.
Wormwood, absinthe, is an aromatic plant with a scent of camphor used to flavour vermouth. It is also the name given to the potent drink, 68% alcohol, of the same name. Another species is used to flavour the liqueur génépi.
A name for Clinton, a red variety of grape which arose spontaneously and was found in New York State in 1835. It is used in making red wines. It has the quality of being phylloxera resistant, leading to it being planted in the Italian Switzerland, Italy and Austria where it is used in Uhudler wines. It is now also grown in Brazil.
Wreckfish or stone bass, a type of grouper cooked like wrasse and used in soups or cut into steaks or filleted. It may grow as large as 2 m (6 ft) in length and it is found in both the Mediterranean and throughout the Atlantic. Wreckfish are inclined to follow bits of flotsam and jetsam floating on the surface of the sea.
