Ketchup

This article is about the condiment. For the singers, see Las Ketchup.

The largest major commercial distributors of ketchup in the world is the H. J. Heinz Company.

Ketchup (or less commonly catsup) also known as Tomato Ketchup, Red Sauce, Tomato Sauce or Tommy Sauce is a condiment, usually made with ripened tomatoes. The basic ingredients in modern ketchup are tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, salt, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon. Onions, celery, and other vegetables are frequent additions.

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

Ketchup is a soft solid often used for french fries, hamburgers, sandwiches and grilled or fried meat. Ketchup with mayonnaise forms the base of Thousand Island dressing and fry sauce. Ketchup is also typically used as a base for barbecue sauce, especially in the Southern United States.

History

A bottle of Geo. Watkins mushroom ketchup.

Early origins

Ketchup originated in Eastern Asia as a fish sauce, long before anyone outside the Americas had ever seen a tomato. The word "ketchup" is used in Chinese, Malay, and Indonesian (e.g., kecap manis - traditional spelling kitjap manis). English and Dutch sailors brought the Asian ketchup to Europe, where many flavourings, such as mushrooms, anchovies and nuts, were added to the basic fish sauce. It is not certain when and where ketchup first came to be made from tomatoes.

Tomato ketchup

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

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, 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.

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) 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 savoriness, 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 also accompanied by a doubling of the sweetness of ketchup, a balanced stimulation of all five types of taste buds produced an almost gestalt effect.

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. Despite the more general origins of the word, 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

Ketchup on a hot dog

The thixotropic properties of ketchup make it impossible to pour from a glass bottle unless it has previously been shaken vigorously. The introduction of PET squeezy bottles in 1990 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. These popular products were made by adding food coloring to the traditional ketchup. These products (as of January 2006) have been discontinued.

Ketchup is commonly used on hamburgers

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.

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 packets from fast-food restaurants:

Restaurant	Packet size	Energy	Sodium	Carbo- hydrates
Arby's	9 g	10 kcal (42 kJ)	100 mg	2 g
Burger King	10 g	10 kcal (42 kJ)	127 mg	3 g
Jack in the Box	9 g	10 kcal (42 kJ)	105 mg	2 g
McDonald's	10 g	15 kcal (63 kJ)	110 mg	3 g

While it can hardly be considered a health food, ketchup has been found to be a beneficial source of lycopene, an antioxidant which fights 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. 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

Ketchup (the tomato variety) is a thixotropic substance, which often results in difficulties of removing it from a glass bottle. Often a glass bottle will appear to be blocked. The "common" method (inverting the bottle and hitting the bottom with the heel of the hand) can often cause the ketchup to suddenly gain enough momentum to begin flowing, and due to the shear stress on a thixotropic substance, lose viscosity, and therefore flow even more, causing a significant amount of ketchup to flow out of the bottle. Some people, seeking to avoid this problem, remove the product with the aid of a butter knife thrust into the opening. But this technique is generally slow and inefficient, and can potentially contaminate the ketchup.

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. 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. This, however, leads to squirt control problems.

Etymology

Early uses in English

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

• 1690, B. E., A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew
  • Catchup: a high East-India Sauce.
• 1711, Charles Lockyer, An Account of the Trade in India 128
  • Soy comes in Tubbs from Jappan, and the best Ketchup from Tonquin; yet good of both sorts are made and sold very cheap in China.
• 1730, Jonathan Swift, A Panegyrick on the Dean Wks. 1755 IV. I. 142
  • And, for our home-bred British cheer, Botargo, catsup, and caveer.
• 1748, Sarah Harrison, The Housekeeper's Pocket-Book and Compleat Family Cook. i. (ed. 4) 2,
  • I therefore advise you to lay in a Store of Spices, ... neither ought you to be without ... Kitchup, or Mushroom Juice.
• 1751, Mrs. Hannah Glasse, Cookery Bk. 309
  • It will taste like foreign Catchup.
• 1817, George Gordon Byron, Beppo viii,
  • Buy in gross ... Ketchup, Soy, Chili~vinegar, and Harvey.
• 1832, Vegetable Substances Used for the Food of Man 333
  • One ... application of mushrooms is ... converting them into the sauce called Catsup.
• 1840, Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge (1849) 91/1
  • Some lamb chops (breaded, with plenty of ketchup).
• 1845, Eliza Acton, Modern Cookery v. (1850) 136 (L.)
  • Walnut catsup.
• 1862, Macmillan's Magazine. Oct. 466
  • He found in mothery catsup a number of yellowish globular bodies.
• 1874, Mordecai C. Cooke, Fungi; Their Nature, Influence and Uses 89
  • One important use to which several ... fungi can be applied, is the manufacture of ketchup.

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

The China connection

The most 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. Some people prefer the Malayan word "kechap" (spelled "ketjap" by the Dutch), which may have come from the Chinese in the first place (see: Penang Hokkien). The Malay word means "taste." And in sometime in the late 17th century, the name and some samples might have arrived in England where it appeared in print as "catchup" in 1690 and then as "ketchup" in 1711. These names stuck with the British, who quickly appropriated them for their own pickled condiments of anchovies or oysters.

The exact Chinese characters used to spell the word kôe-chiap have been disputed, with two primary theories as to the word's original Chinese spelling:

Theory 1

According to the first theory, the word "ketchup" derives from a Chinese word composed of two characters (茄汁) meaning "tomato sauce". The first character (茄) meaning "aubergine" 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

Theory 2

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

Ketchup and U.S. politics

In 1981, Congress ordered the United States Department of Agriculture to issue new standards for federally financed school lunch programs, which would enable schools to economize; one of the USDA's proposals was to classify ketchup as a vegetable. The suggestion was widely ridiculed and the proposal was killed.

In 2004, presidential challenger John Kerry's ties to H. J. Heinz Company through his wife, Teresa Heinz, led some supporters of George W. Bush to create an alternative called W Ketchup so as not to add to his opponent's campaign coffers, even though Kerry adhered to strict funding rules and separated his wife's personal fortune from any campaign funds.

Ketchup/Catsup

Confusion between these two names has provided fodder for comedy:

Garrison Keillor's radio show A Prairie Home Companion regularly features advertisements from the fictitious "Catchup Advisory Board" (Catchup being a compromise between "ketchup" and "catsup"), which encourages the use of ketchup as an emotional stabiliser.

In one episode of 'The Simpsons', Mr. Burns cannot decide between Ketchup and Catsup, which are the same thing. In another, Homer calls Bart to ask the difference between Ketchup and Catsup, and claims 'they' will cut his head off if Bart doesn't tell him.

In an episode of 'Corner Gas' Oscar argues to himself about the difference between Ketchup and Catsup, causing Davis and Karen to leave The Ruby, and causes Lacy to think Oscar has Functional illiteracy.

In a brief part before the opening credits on an episode of King Of Queens Season 6, Arthur asks Doug to pass him "The catsup", which Doug regards in confusion as he looks at a bottle clearly marked 'Ketchup'. In the midst of an argument, Doug eventually manages to make Arthur admit that it is called Ketchup, by spraying half of the full bottle onto his burger.

In the online game "Kingdom of Loathing" you can buy "Ketchup" or "Catsup", each item's description saying that it's different from the other.

See also

• Condiments on hot dogs
• Tomato purée
• Tomato paste
• Tomato sauce
• Banana ketchup
• Mustard (condiment)

External links

• wbgu.org WBGU-PBS local documentary about the history and facts of Ketchup
• Consumer Frequently Asked Questions from the Heinz website
• And you thought you knew ketchup!
• USDA Food Nutrient database
• Fresh vegetable storage
• "Did the Reagan-era USDA really classify ketchup as a vegetable?" article on The Straight Dope website
• "Trickle-Down Vegetables" More on Reagan classifying Ketchup as a vegetable
• Technological breakthrough on keeping ketchup pouring

Other non-commercial recipes

• A vegetarian low-salt, low-sugar formula taken from The Wild Vegetarian Cookbook