In order to incorporate an element of Irishness into our dinner, we broke open a bottle of HP Sauce with Guinness. qidane and I tried some with our food. Then kateaw opened the bottle lid and tentatively sniffed at the contents. As it was a squeezy cap, there wasn’t much to smell at, so she gently squeezed the bottle. And promptly shot HP Guinness Sauce up her nose.

Oh how we laughed.

[Poll #1717491]

For those who Spotify, you may wish to listen to Marty Feldman singing the French words from the side of an HP Sauce bottle, from his 1969 album "I Feel A Song Going Off."

http://open.spotify.com/track/21k9B0ilZqzpIQL5sBLbRS

Apparently the French text appeared on HP Sauce bottles from 1917 to 1984; when it was removed there were widespread protests. Or at least a letter or two to national newspapers. Perhaps the removal of the French text was the beginning of the end of HP as a British cultural institution, a process that culminated in production moving from Aston to the Netherlands in 2007.