The History Of Marinade

What is the origin of marinade? What person, people or culture "invented" it? The answer is simply that we do not know but we do have reason to believe that the concept of marination has been around for centuries and, more likely, for thousands of years.

Sauce In Asia

"...we need soy sauce just as we need air and water," says Japanese food historian, Ryoichi Iino.

Soy sauce is a prime ingredient in Peter's Gourmet Sauce & marinade. Mr Iino traces the use of soy sauce (shoyu, in Japanese) back 3,000 years to China where it evolved into the product we now know.

In Japan evidence exists that soy sauce was being used at last as early as the Fujiwara era (14th through 17th centuries).

The French-Italian Connection

There is speculation that our word "marinade" is of French origin, derived from the Italian "marinare," to "marinate," which — speculation — attributes to the Latin "aqua marina" — fluid used for pickling fish. Perhaps.

Mexico Before Columbus

As far back as pre-Columbian Mexico, cooks had discovered the tenderizing effects of wrapping meat in papaya leaves before cooking. We now know that the active enzyme in the papaya is papain — an excellent meat tenderizer — which today is commercially available.

Marinade In The USA

Interestingly, much of what we know about the use of sauces and marinades in the USA comes from flea market people — people who collect old bottles and ancient advertisements.

These artifacts, while instructive, do not provide complete information. Ingredient labeling is a modern phenomenon. Older manufacturers hung tight to their formulas. But, through these collectors, we do know that bottled sauces appeared in the United States early in the 19th century. Some of these 19th century brands can still be found on our supermarket shelves.

McIlhenny's Tabasco Sauce traces its origins to a 2 acre crop of tabasco chiles grown by a Louisiana banker who manufactured his own hot sauce and advertised it for it's health benefits. Edward McIlhenny obtained some of the plants, planted them on Avery Island and, after returning home from the Civil War, founded his fortune on them. We still enjoy his product today.

Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce found its way to American shores before 1850 and has remained with us ever since.

Pre-1800 Sauces In America

We don't have any answers but are sure that prepared sauces were available in America prior to 1800. If you have some information on this topic, we would love to hear from you.

~~ The Library Staff