Ketchup Stories

It is interesting to note that ketchup is used by different people in different ways, President Nixon liked it poured on cottage cheese, Japanese eat it with rice and in some parts of Asia it is a regular accompaniment to fried delicacies. But very few people know about its beginning, humble though they are.

Like a lot of other tasty, sweet and sour condiments, ketchup originated in China. Its unique taste tempted the Dutch and British seamen in the sixteenth century, and they brought the sauce made with salty pickled fish, back with them to Europe. It was called Ketsiap' in China, so a suitable English name was to be found. In fact it was closer to the fish sauce that is used today, than to the condiment we call ketchup, actually. Resourceful British cooks came up with newer ways of adapting it to the tastes prevalent in the Isles and very soon, British counterparts of the Ketsiap were seen, made of mushrooms, anchovies, oysters and even walnuts. There is, after all, no limit to resourcefulness. The name eventually became catchup" by 1690, and in early 1700s, changed to ketchup, as we know it today.

From the middle of seventeenth century, British gourmands stated actually penning down and even publishing recipes for ketchup, mostly with a mushroom base. In early eighteenth century, the first recipe for ketchup in America was published in Nova Scotia, by one James Mease, and he referred to it as love-apple' ketchup. He insisted that it was inspired by French cuisine but there is nothing to prove this either ways. But yes, the ketchup recipes appearing in Britain used mushrooms while those in the Americas used tomatoes, and we all know who won for posterity.

In fact early on, in the Americas, people who manufactured ketchup tried every trick in the book to differentiate their tomato based product from the British mushroom based one, because they had similar names. The most ingenious methods seemed to be to give it an exotic name, so some resorted to calling it Tomato Chutney. There were, of course, more differences between the two versions; the principal among them being the difference in their consistencies, the British ketchup was nearly transparent and very thin, while the American counterpart was thick, red and gooey!! In this avatar, bottled tomato based ketchup was sold by a farmer n New England as early as 1830, for a price between 33 and 50 cents.

Marketing tomato ketchup became more popular in the United States by 1837, thanks to the efforts of Jonas Yerkes, who bottled the sauce made of refuse of tomato canning-skins, cores, green tomatoes, and lots of sugar and vinegar, in quart and pint bottles. The idea was catching on and by the turn of the century, there were at least 100 tomato ketchup brands in the US. However, the landmark in marketing this product came when it was added to the Heinz range of food products in 1870, adding value to it consumption. Now it was fashionable to be seen with a squirt of ketchup. Over the last century and a half, Heinz is making ketchup with the same formula, and even today, all other brands of ketchup are rated in comparison to Heinz. There have been irregularities by other ketchup manufacturers in terms of their storage hygiene and even their technical know-how but the FDA has been extremely strict in the enforcement of the law, and today, as thick as Heinz is the bottom line.

Today, ketchup is more often than not, made with tomatoes, but for those with whom tomatoes do not agree or who prefer a different flavor, there is an alternative- a tomato less ketchup...worth a try. All one has to do is to blend a cupful each of cooked carrots, beetroots, water and lemon juice. Half a teaspoon of salt, about as much garlic powder and a pinch of Oregano completes the ketchup and this one is healthier than everyday tomato ketchup.

To eat as an accompaniment to Eastern, largely Indian food, one could try mixing curry powder with garlic, scallions and crushed tomatoes, blending in with crushed ginger and a teaspoonful of turmeric. This will be an interesting condiment for foods like parathas or nachos/tacos, tasting more like a salsa, but for the curry powder.

The concept of ketchup is largely as an accompaniment, so the recipes change with what one wants to eat it with. There are also recipes for fruit- tomato ketchup with a large number of fruit variations, and these will make an excellent accompaniment with scones or even pancakes, for those who like their food flavored on the stronger side. There is, after all, no limit to creativity. To a gourmet mind, and a creative cook, nothing is impossible.