Why after 100 years, did the Pendennis Club of Louisville Kentucky decide to share its secret sauce recipe?”
Not really that secret. Read below: http://www.southernfoodways.com/documentary/oh/louisville_barroom_culture/pendennis_club_slideshow/pendennis.shtml Pendennis Club 218 West Muhammad Ali Blvd. Louisville, KY 40202 (502) 584-4311 www.pendennisclub.org The Old-Fashioned was originated by a Kentucky man, Colonel Pepper…he had been in the whiskey business. They used some of his whiskey when they made that first Old-Fashioned and, of course, the Old-Fashioned, it was made at the old club. It wasn’t made here in this building; it was made down at the old club. – John C. Johnson Established in 1881, the Pendennis Club was founded as Louisville’s premier private men’s club. The place is steeped in history. It’s where the club’s first headwaiter, Henry Bain, created his now-famous sauce and wher
For over a century, Pendennis Club’s The Original Henry Bain’s Famous Sauce was only available to members and guests of the world renowned Pendennis Club in Louisville, Kentucky. After decades of incomparable enjoyment, the Pendennis Club is pleased to share its signature sauce with the public. “It occurred to us that we were holding a great man’s secret all to ourselves. His legacy lives on in the Club, and we pay tribute to him each day by using his recipe” said Campbell Ewen, Past-President of The Pendennis Club. This fabulous sauce was the creation of the Club’s legendary Maître d’, Henry Bain (1863-1928), who was one of its first employees after the Club’s formation in 1881. He perfected this sauce to complement not only steaks but also local game animals. At this time it is fitting to remember and pay tribute to Henry Bain, the man.
More than a century after Henry Bain first tried to patent his now legendary sauce, the private club where he worked has bottled it for commercial sale. Louisville has been flooded with Bain’s sauce knock-offs ever since Bain, the head waiter at the Pendennis Club, created the condiment to pair with steak. “It was one of those sauces that people really, really loved,” Bain’s eventual successor, John C. Johnson, told Southern Foodways Alliance’s Amy Evans in a 2008 interview. “And, of course, I can recall how crazy people were about it. I’ve seen people put that Henry Bain on chicken. I even know one man that used to put it on ice cream, he loved it so much — and that’s really taking it another step.” After Bain failed to patent his concoction – Johnson recalls it used too many patented ingredients – he sold it to the club, which became the only source of Bain’s sauce made according to the original recipe. But, until recently, “you had to know a member” to get it, general manager Jim A
