For over fifty years there has always been a bottle of brown sauce, made to Grandma Wilkes' original recipe on the kitchen table.
A traditional cook, Grandma was nevertheless ahead of her time and there was always an experimental pot simmering on the stove in her cottage. Grandma handed down the recipes to the family and her son, Nicholas, developed a love of pickling and preserving equal to his mother. Nicholas, in turn, passed on his love of cooking to his daughter Liza. More than fifty years on the idea of producing these recipes for sale has become a reality with our Buckshot Original range.
The predecessor to Buckshot Original was Buckshot Traders, established in his retirement years by Grandma’s son Nicholas Wilkes. The company sold two products; The Original Game Bouillon and The Bloody Mary Mix. Sold in cans, these niche drinks developed a loyal following, particularly amongst the shooting community and Gentlemen’s clubs in London.
Sadly Nick passed away in 2011 just as Buckshot Traders was beginning to flourish. A look back in his ‘Recipe and Production’ records show that he was quietly tweaking his mother’s Brown Sauce recipe, in readiness for a third product launch.
At the time his children were engaged in their own separate careers and so with regret, Buckshot Traders was closed for business. Happily, encouraged by family friend and Brown Sauce enthusiast Paul Winchester, they decided to launch Buckshot Original 4 years later.
Having worked as a chef in event catering since 1994 and run my own business since 2000 I was very excited to be able to be a part of setting up Buckshot Original, using my Grandmother’s 'famous' recipe for Brown Sauce. Both my maternal and paternal grandmothers passed down their battered recipe books to me and I have loved creating sauces and pickles from a young age. By travelling in South America and Asia, in particular India I have learnt many different techniques and flavours which I believe give our sauces a unique quality.
Having spent most of his career in the city it appears that Paul has now found his true vocation. A lover of food and wine he is now finding success in the catering and condiment making business.
Of Buckshot Paul says "I have been eating Grandma Wilkes' Brown sauce for over 30 years and have said for almost as long that we should be selling it, now we are!".