September 2004                                                    The Megaphone                                                                   Page 5

Catsup Or Ketchup

by Ginny (Hocker) Noble

The word “ketchup” is derived from the Chinese ke-tsiap, meaning a pickled fish sauce. It then traveled to Malaysia where it became kechap and ketjap in Indonesia. Seventeenth century English and Dutch sailors discovered this Chinese condiment and brought it west.  It was first mentioned in print around 1690. The Chinese version is more like soy or Worcestershire sauce. British types included mushrooms, anchovies, oysters, and walnuts. It gradually went through several changes, particularly with the addition of tomatoes in the 1700s. By the nineteenth century ketchup was also known as tomato soy. Early versions were thinner and more like a soy sauce. The H. J. Heinz Company added tomato ketchup to its pickled products and introduced it at the Philadelphia fair in 1872. And by the end of the nineteenth century, tomato ketchup was the primary type and the (tomato) description was gradually dropped. Catsup, catchup, and katsup are acceptable ways to spell the condiment, and are used interchangeably with ketchup. But ketchup is the way it is listed in the majority of cookbooks.

Some interesting ketchup facts are:

It is America’s favorite condiment, found in 97% of kitchens.

Recent studies have found it can be a benefit in preventing cancer, heart disease, and premature aging because of its concentration of lycopene.

The world’s largest catsup bottle stands at Route 159, at Collinsville, Illinois. It is 170 ft. tall and was used by Brooks Catsup as a water tower. It is now a roadside attraction and named to the National Register of Historic Places.

Kids eat 50% more ketchup than adults.

You can use ketchup to clean copper pans; the acid will remove tarnish and make it shine.

FDA standards regulate the ingredients for catsup: cooked and strained tomato sauce, vinegar, sugar, salt, onion, garlic, and spices. The flow standards revised in 1991 for Grade A ketchup needs to ooze 3 to 7 centimeters in thirty seconds to make the grade, it was 9 centimeters in 1953 – so it is thinner now.

There is a ketchup song – titled “The Ketchup Song” (Asereji) by Las Ketchup – a bouncy Spanish number (which I don’t understand).

From: Famous Old Receipts by Jacqueline Harrison Smith (1908)

   Peel 4 quarts tomatoes and place in a kettle with 2 quarts vinegar, 6 chopped red peppers, 4 tablespoons salt, black pepper, 2 tablespoons dry mustard, and 3 tablespoons allspice. Boil for 4 hours until thickened. Bottle, seal, and serve as a condiment for meat and fish.

And for more information about tomato products, do not miss Elwood's Red Gold web site at:

http://www.redgold.com/index.html

I have bottle of Red Gold ketchup in my refrigerator now, and yes…it is delicious.

Ginny (Hocker) Noble '60

Tipton, Indiana