Ketchup is present in nearly all of US homes —according to a survey, 97 per cent of households usually buy it—, and it is also very popular all around the world, especially when hamburgers or fries are on the menu. But this American staple originated in China, and the main ingredient in the oldest recipes wasn’t tomato, but fish!
once upon a time in the east
The use of fermented pastes made from fish entrails has been very common in Asian cuisine for many centuries. The precursor of modern ketchup was probably one of such sauces, called ge-thcup or koe-cheup in a dialect in southern China. Thanks to the trade routes, this seasoning travelled to Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines, where British traders discovered it. They found it exotic and delicious, so they took some samples home. Once in Europe and America, the original recipe started to change.
COLOURFUL TRANSFORMATION
By the 18th century, many new ketchup recipes had been created. They were made of oysters, anchovies, mushrooms —the author Jane Austen’s favourite, apparently—, walnuts, lemons, and even fruits like peaches. But it wasn’t until 1812 when a tomato-based ketchup was first developed by James Mease, a scientist and horticulturalist from Philadelphia. A new improvement came when a company called Heinz introduced its own recipe in 1876 and called it ‘catsup’. Before that, tomato-based sauces were difficult to preserve, as tomatoes rot quickly. Heinz solved this problem by adding distilled vinegar to the sauce, which also contained brown sugar, salt and spices.
A WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES
Slowly but surely, tomato-based ketchup became one of the favourite condiments in the US and Europe. Affordable, adaptable, sweet and versatile, it has become an emblem of America and the easiest way to improve nearly any dish. In fact, ketchup is used in many surprising ways around the globe. Even though Italians would find it outrageous, in countries like Poland and Lebanon it is common to add some ketchup to pizza. It is also an essential ingredient in many Chinese-American dishes, like sweet and sour chicken, and Germans love sausages with curry powder-spiked ketchup on them. But the most unusual recipe comes from Canada, where you can find ketchup cake! Hopefully, it tastes better than it sounds…