Hermes Worcestershire Sauce (ヘルメス ウスターソース)

The story behind it

Osaka, the capital of flour-based street food, keeps a culture of local sauces running alongside the big manufacturers. Its emblem is Hermes, made in a small factory in Higashisumiyoshi.

In 1935, founder Kazuo Sakai registered the trademark under the name of Hermes, the god of commerce. The sauce is still made entirely by hand by a handful of family members, and the recipe passes to one heir per generation. Tomato, onion, apple. The natural sweetness of vegetables and fruit leads, with no sharp acidity. It tastes like something remembered.

For years the company would only accept orders by the case of 12, and even locally it was known mainly to those in the know. The official mail order still runs about a 3-month wait. Now the near-mythical sauce that Osaka's kushikatsu and okonomiyaki shops have relied on for decades can sit on your table.