Ketchup

The largest distributor of ketchup in the world is the H. J. Heinz Company.

Ketchup (also spelled catsup or catchup), also known as tomato ketchup, tomato sauce, red sauce, Tommy sauce, Tommy K, or dead horse,[1] is a condiment, usually made from tomatoes. The ingredients in a typical modern ketchup are tomato concentrate, spirit vinegar, corn syrup or other sugar, salt, spice and herb extracts (including celery), spice and garlic powder[2]. Allspice, cloves, cinnamon, onion, and other vegetables may be included.

Ketchup started out as a general term for sauce, typically made of mushrooms or fish brine with herbs and spices. Some popular early main ingredients included blueberry, anchovy, oyster, lobster, walnut, kidney bean, cucumber, cranberry, lemon, celery and grape. Mushroom ketchup is still available in some countries, such as the UK, and banana ketchup is popular in the Philippines.

Ketchup is often used with chips (French fries), hamburgers, sandwiches and grilled or fried meat. Ketchup is also used as a base for various sauces.

Contents

History

A bottle of Geo. Watkins mushroom ketchup.

Origins

Ketchup-like sauces originated in eastern Asia as a fish sauce, long before anyone outside the Americas had ever seen a tomato. English and Dutch sailors brought the Asian styled ketchup to Europe, where many flavorings, such as mushrooms, anchovies and nuts, were added to the basic fish sauce. A recipe in Eliza Smith's The Compleat Housewife, published in 1727, called for anchovies, shallots, vinegar, white wine, sweet spices (cloves, ginger, mace, nutmeg), pepper, and lemon peel. Ketchup, as it is eaten today, first appeared in American cookbooks during the early 19th century.

Tomato ketchup

By 1801 a recipe for tomato ketchup was printed in an American cookbook, the Sugar House Book.[3] James Mease published another recipe in 1812. In 1824 a ketchup recipe appeared in The Virginia Housewife, an influential 19th-century cookbook written by Mary Randolph, Thomas Jefferson's cousin.

Ketchup on a hot dog.

As the century progressed, tomato ketchup began its ascent in popularity in the United States, influenced by the American enthusiasm for tomatoes. Tomato ketchup was sold locally by farmers. A man named Jonas Yerks (or Yerkes) is believed to have been the first man to make tomato ketchup a national phenomenon. By 1837 he had produced and distributed the condiment nationally. Shortly thereafter, other companies followed suit. F. & J. Heinz launched their tomato ketchup in 1876. Heinz tomato ketchup was advertised: "Blessed relief for Mother and the other women in the household!"

The Webster's Dictionary of 1913 defined "catchup" as a "table sauce made from mushrooms, tomatoes, walnuts, etc. [Written also ketchup]."

Modern ketchup emerged in the early years of the 20th century, out of a debate over the use of sodium benzoate as a preservative in condiments. Harvey W. Wiley, the "father" of the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S., challenged the safety of benzoate. In response, entrepreneurs, particularly Henry J. Heinz, pursued an alternative recipe that eliminated the need for that preservative.

An example of ketchup on a plate, for use as a dip.

Prior to Heinz (and his fellow innovators), commercial tomato ketchups of that time were watery and thin, in part due to the use of unripe tomatoes, which were low in pectin. They were also less vinegary than modern ketchups; by pickling ripe tomatoes, the need for benzoate was eliminated without spoilage or degradation in flavor. But the changes driven by the desire to eliminate benzoate also produced changes that some experts (such as Andrew F. Smith[4]) believe were key to the establishment of tomato ketchup as the dominant American condiment.

Until Heinz, most commercial ketchups appealed to two of the basic tastes: bitterness and saltiness. But the switch to ripe tomatoes and more tomato solids added umami, and the major increase in the concentration of vinegar added sourness and pungency to the range of sensations experienced during its consumption. And because the elimination of benzoate was accompanied by a doubling of ketchup's sweetness, a balanced stimulation of all five types of taste sensations resulted.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration has prohibited the use of the word "ketchup" on product labels unless the product conforms to a set of strict guidelines. All products marketed as ketchup in the United States must be thickened only with tomato solids, and the viscosity of the sauce must be within a very narrow range. The nutrient content of the sauce is also tightly regulated.

In the past, ketchup was produced from fresh tomatoes after harvesting. Vacuum evaporation made it possible to turn tomatoes into a very thick tomato paste that is easy to store at room temperature. This enables a factory to produce ketchup throughout the year.

Later innovations

The thixotropic properties of ketchup make it difficult to pour from a glass bottle unless it has previously been shaken vigorously. In the late 1970s, Heinz tackled public perceptions of this annoyance with an advertising campaign that used Carly Simon's hit "Anticipation". The introduction of PET squeeze bottles in the 1980s made it easier to get the ketchup out.

In October, 2000, Heinz introduced colored ketchup products, which eventually included green, purple, pink, orange, teal, and blue.[5] These products were made by adding food coloring to the traditional ketchup. As of January 2006 these products have been discontinued.[6]

Nutrition

The following table compares the nutritional value of ketchup with raw ripe tomatoes and salsa, based on information from the USDA Food Nutrient Database.[7]

Nutrient
(per 100 g)		 Ketchup Low sodium
Ketchup		 Tomatoes,
year-round		 USDA commodity
salsa		 La Victoria
Salsa Brava, Hot
Energy 100 kcal
419 kJ		 104 kcal
435 kJ		 18 kcal
75 kJ		 36 kcal
150 kJ		 40 kcal
170 kJ
Water 68.33 g 66.58 g 94.50 g 89.70 g 88.67 g
Protein 1.74 g 1.52 g 0.88 g 1.50 g 1.36 g
Fats 0.49 g 0.36 g 0.20 g 0.20 g 1.11 g
Carbohydrates 25.78 g 27.28g 3.92 g 7.00 g 6.16 g
Sodium 1110 mg 20 mg 5 mg 430 mg 648 mg
Vitamin C 15.1 mg 15.1 mg 12.7 mg 4 mg 7.2 mg
Lycopene 17.0 mg 19.0 mg 2.6 mg n/a n/a

Ketchup has been shown to provide significant health benefits but many argue that these benefits are offset by the food's salt and sugar content. Ketchup has been found to be a beneficial source of lycopene, an antioxidant which may help prevent some forms of cancer. This is particularly true of the organic brands of ketchup. In fact, organic brands were found to contain three times as much lycopene as non-organic brands.[8] Ketchup, much like marinara sauce and other cooked tomato foods, yields higher levels of lycopene per serving because cooking makes lycopene in tomatoes more bio-available.

Viscosity

Transferring ketchup between plastic squeeze bottles.

Tomato ketchup is a thixotropic substance, which can make it difficult to pour from a glass bottle. Often, the neck of the bottle will appear to be blocked. The "common" method (inverting the bottle and shaking it or hitting the bottom with the heel of the hand)will cause the ketchup to flow rapidly. Because ketchup is a thixotropic fluid and has a non linear stress strain curve, it flows over itself better than over any surface-- including glass. So, once it starts flowing, it quickly picks up speed, and this is why the ketchup won't come out-- and then suddenly comes out all at once. Some people try to avoid this problem by using a knife to extract the ketchup from the bottle neck, but this inefficient, and can potentially contaminate the ketchup with bacteria.

There is a better technique that avoids both the thixotropic effect and the need for an inefficient tool. Known widely among caterers, it involves inverting the bottle and forcefully tapping its upper neck with two fingers (index and middle finger together). Specifically, with the Heinz Ketchup product, one taps the 57 circle on the neck. This helps the ketchup flow by applying correct G-forces.[9] Another solution to this problem appeared with the introduction of plastic squeeze bottles. More recently, Heinz and others have introduced an "upside-down" bottle, which further remedies the problem by keeping the remaining ketchup at the mouth of the bottle. These bottles are also fitted with a control valve in the nozzle designed to eliminate the build-up of ketchup in the cap after use.

Etymology

The etymology of the word ketchup is uncertain, with multiple competing theories.[10]

China theory

One popular theory of the word's origin is that it derives from one of two words from the Fujian region of coastal southern China: "kôe-chiap" (in the Xiamen accent) or "kê-chiap" (in the Zhangzhou accent). Both of these words come from the Amoy dialect of China, where it meant the brine of pickled fish or shellfish.[11] The exact Chinese characters used to represent the word kôe-chiap have been disputed, with two primary theories as to the word's original Chinese orthography:

Tomato sauce

The first theory[12] states that the word "ketchup" derives from a Chinese word composed of two characters (茄汁), which means "tomato sauce". The first character (茄), meaning "eggplant," is also a shortened form of "tomato" (番茄 in Mandarin and Cantonese or 紅毛茄 in Taiwanese). The second character (汁) means "juice" or "sauce." Pronunciations of this word vary by region, but their similarities to the English "ketchup" can be noticed.

茄汁
Language Pronunciation (IPA) Other transcriptions
Cantonese khe tsɐp Jyutping ke2 zap1
Taiwanese gjo ʑiap POJ kiô-chiap

Fish sauce

The second theory states that "ketchup" derives from an Amoy word of two characters (鮭汁) meaning "fish sauce". The first character literally means "salmon" but can mean just "fish" in general. The second character is the same as in the above-mentioned theory.

鮭汁
Language Pronunciation (IPA) Other transcriptions
Cantonese kwɐi tsɐp Jyutping gwai1 zap1
Taiwanese kue ʑiap POJ kôe chiap

Malay theory

Ketchup probably[12][13] entered the English language from the Malay word kicap (pron. "kichap", also spelled kecap, ketjap), originally meaning "fish sauce"[12], which itself may be[12] a loan from Chinese terms above.

European-Arabic theory

American anthropologist E.N. Anderson claimed that ketchup is a cognate of the French escaveche, meaning "food in sauce".[10] The word also exists in Spanish and Portuguese forms as escabeche and escaveach, "a sauce for pickling", which culinary historian Karen Hess traced back to Arabic iskebey, or "pickling with vinegar".[10] The term was anglicized to caveach, a word first attested in the late 17th century, at the same time as ketchup.[10]

Early uses in English

The word entered the English language in England during the late seventeenth century, appearing in print as catchup (1690) and later as ketchup (1711). The following is a list of early quotations collected by the Oxford English Dictionary.

Blue Label Tomato Ketchup advertisement from 1898.

The spelling catsup seems to have appeared first from the pen of Jonathan Swift, in 1730.

In politics

USA

See also

References

  1. ↑ Australian slang: "Raw Prawns and Dead Horse - Fun Facts, Questions, Answers, Information". Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
  2. ↑ Statements by H. J. Heinz Company and its subsidiaries, including labels of Heinz Tomato Ketchup
  3. ↑ Taken from "The Sugar House Book", 1801.
    1. Get [the tomatoes] quite ripe on a dry day, squeeze them with your hands till reduced to a pulp, then put half a pound of fine salt to one hundred tomatoes, and boil them for two hours.
    2. Stir them to prevent burning.
    3. While hot press them through a fine sieve, with a silver spoon till nought but the skin remains, then add a little mace, 3 nutmegs, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and pepper to taste.
    4. Boil over a slow fire till quite thick, stir all the time.
    5. Bottle when cold.
    6. One hundred tomatoes will make four or five bottles and keep good for two or three years."'
    The salt in this recipe, which served as a preservative, yields an extremely salty taste. This recipe is important because tomato was not widely accepted by people in North America in the early 1800s. Many believed it was poisonous.
  4. ↑ Andrew F. Smith (2001). The Tomato in America: Early History, Culture, and Cookery. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-07009-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=e82QWB89_sIC&printsec=frontcover#PPP1,M1. 
  5. ↑ Associated Press (April 7, 2003). "Heinz unveils new blue ketchup". 
  6. ↑ Heinz - Consumer FAQs
  7. ↑ "USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference". USDA. Retrieved on 2007-12-03.
  8. ↑ Ishida B, Chapman M (2004). "A comparison of carotenoid content and total antioxidant activity in catsup from several commercial sources in the United States.". J Agric Food Chem 52 (26): 8017–20. doi:10.1021/jf040154o. PMID 15612790. 
  9. ↑ "How to pour Ketchup (Catsup). Full technical explanation.". Retrieved on 2007-12-30.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "The etymological origin of the word ketchup is a matter of confusion." Pure Ketchup, by Andrew F. Smith, ISBN 1560989939. Page 4.
  11. ↑ In the Chinese Amoy dialect, "kôe-chiap" (Xiamen accented Amoy) or "kê-chiap" (probably Penang Hokkien, which is based on Zhangzhou accented Amoy) signifies "brine of pickled fish or shell-fish" (The Oxford English Dictionary, Douglas Chinese Dict. 46/1, 242/1).
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 "Ketchup". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, published by Houghton Mifflin Company
  13. ↑ www.merriam-webster.com - Entry for ketchup
  14. ↑ "Did the Reagan-era USDA really classify ketchup as a vegetable?". The Straight Dope.
  15. ↑ Oliver Conway (July 10, 2004). "Republicans launch 'W ketchup'", BBC NEWS. 

External links