"Cookie Cutter" > wrote in message
...
> Here is a recipe for Mushroom Ketchup using American measurements.
> I haven't tried it myself but all these posts have inspired me to give
> it a try. The recipe does not give an amount for the vinegar -- I think
> that must be a typo -- so I guess the best approach is to add vinegar
> little by little until the desired piquancy is achieved.
>
> BTW, someone in another thread was talking about early catsups
> in terms of condiments. My impression from reading old cookbooks
> is that they were used to flavor sauces and gravies. I didn't think
> they made it to the table for individual diners to use as condiments.
> Anyone think otherwise?
>
>
A brief history of ketchup

A look at the history of ketchup From its
beginning as a fish sauce in China, to the sweet tomato version we love
today.
Nearly everyone likes ketchup, even if what they like to put it on seems
odd-Nixon covered his cottage cheese with it, the Japanese eat it on rice,
and one ice cream manufacturer allegedly once tried a ketchup ice cream. But
how did this condiment, by some estimates owned by 97% of US households,
become America's favorite accompaniment to the classic hamburger and fries?


In the 1600s Dutch and British seamen brought back a salty pickled fish
sauce called 'ketsiap' from China. In this version, it was more related to
soy or oyster sauce than the sweet, vinegary substance we call ketchup
today. Variations in both the name and the ingredients quickly developed.
British alternatives included mushrooms (the favorite), anchovies, oysters,
and walnuts. In 1690 the word 'catchup' appeared in print in reference to
this sauce, and in 1711 'ketchup'.


The first ketchup recipe was printed in 1727 in Elizabeth Smith's The
Compleat Housewife, and called for anchovies, shallots, vinegar, white wine,
sweet spices (cloves, ginger, mace, nutmeg), pepper, and lemon peel.
Eighty-five years later the first tomato ketchup recipe was published in
Nova Scotia by American ex-pat James Mease, which he often refers to as
'love apple' ketchup-he attempts to give it more cachet by stating that this
variation is influenced by French cooking, although there is no proof of it.


Recipes continued to appear periodically, featuring mushrooms in Britain and
tomatoes in the United States. A New England Farmer offered it for sale in
1830 in bottles, and priced from 33 to 50 cents. In 1837, Americans selling
ketchup in Britain were encouraged to rename it 'tomato chutney' in order to
draw attention to the differences between their product and the mushroom
ketchup popular in Britain. In addition to the difference in ingredients,
the British version also differed in texture, being nearly transparent and
very thin in consistency.


Ketchup was sold nationwide in the US by 1837 thanks to the hard work of
Jonas Yerkes, who sold the product in quart and pint bottles. He used the
refuse of tomato canning-skins, cores, green tomatoes, and lots of sugar and
vinegar. Lots of other small companies followed suit-by 1900 there were 100
manufacturers of ketchup. The big success came in 1872 when HJ Heinz added
ketchup to his line of pickled products and introduced it at the
Philadelphia fair. The Heinz formula has not changed since, and has become
the standard by which other ketchups are rated.


In 1848 some ketchup manufacturers came under fire for their unsanitary
practices-coal tar was frequently used to heighten the red color. Others
made the condiment from concentrated tomato pulp in the off-season, which
they stored in questionable circumstances. This debate continued until the
1900s, when the Pure Food Act put strict limits on food manufacturers.
(Today's FDA has very strict guidelines on what even constitutes ketchup,
specifying the spices that must be used, as well as the thickness of the end
result.)


So, what's in a name? Variations such as catsup, catchup, katsup, and others
abounded alongside 'ketchup'. However, when the Reagan administration
briefly decided to count ketchup as a vegetable in 1981, Del Monte Catsup
found itself out of the loop due to their spelling-they permanently changed
to 'ketchup', but by then public outcry had forced a reversal of
administration policy. Ever since, though, you'll be hard-pressed to find a
bottle from any manufacturer labeled anything other than 'ketchup'.


Although it frequently graces such foods as fries and greasy burgers,
ketchup itself has a moderate health benefit, as it contains lycopene, an
antioxidant associated with decreased cancer risk. (Unlikely that it's
enough to cancel out the negative effects of the fries, though.)