Which inventor of a popular British food item, whose product is named after him, shares that name with a famous fictional British spy?

lanfranco

I'm going to guess that this is Harry Palmer, inventor of HP Sauce, who shares his name with Len Deighton's spy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Palmer Interested persons can also see Wikipedia's "HP Sauce" site. Feb 09 06, 2:20 PM

gmackematix

Yay Frankie! Although I am now beginning to doubt my own question. If you follow the two external links from Wikipedia you find two sites with two slightly different histories, neither of which mention a Harry Palmer. It seems more likely that it was invented in Birmingham by Frederick Garton, and only acquired the HP name after it was used in the Houses of Parliament. Incidentally, the FAQs of the unofficial site list the ingredients if you don't have a bottle to hand. Although advertised as being very British, both HP and Daddies are now owned by Heinz. Feb 09 06, 5:17 PM

lanfranco

Naturally. I have to admit that I didn't follow the links. I just made a list of British food items that I thought might work, and HP Sauce was one of them. I've never tasted it, but it shouldn't be that hard to find in this area. Is it worth tasting? Feb 09 06, 5:40 PM

gmackematix

Personally, I prefer ketchup on my chips to brown sauce, but some swear by it. Feb 09 06, 7:26 PM

Baloo55th

I can't recall any references to brown sauce over there, so you may not have encountered an equivalent. HP is one (with a picture of the Houses of Parlaiment on the label, and Daddy's is another. Crosse and Blackwell do OK Sauce (this is a Nestle company, so OK might be available over there, too). Quite different to tomato ketchup. Dates seem to be a factor in a lot of them. Feb 10 06, 2:38 PM