"James Silverton" > wrote in
news:se0Ai.4950$oh1.3365@trnddc04:

>> I use "ketchup" but "catsup" does not bother or throw me.
> "Catchup", I don't think I've ever come across. Isn't it
> supposed to be derived from a Chinese condiment transcribed
> as "catsiap". There are more ketchups than tomato: mushroom
> ketchup is available in England but I can't say that I like
> it. By the way, I don't know anyone who makes their own but
> it might be an interesting survey to find the brands that
> people like.

i make my own catsup. i invariably end up using regular
tomatoes rather than paste varieties & it takes, oh, 20+ hours
to cook down to proper consistancy. i finally put a note on my
recipe to *use paste tomatoes!*
the original American catsups were commonly Concord grape
based. tomato based catsups were unheard of until the late
1800s when it was discovered that tomatoes were not just
ornamental, but actually edible.
yellow tomatoes make a rather brownish color catsup, due to
the spices. red is more appetizing in appearance.


> I have to admit that my favorite is Heinz or
> possibly DelMonte which tastes almost identical as, believe
> it or not, so do some grocery chain house brands.. Hunt's
> isn't bad but doesn't taste quite the same to me.

i haven't seen DelMonte in ages! when we bought catsup, it was
Heinz... but we're trying to eliminate HFCS from our diets.
amazing how much bought food contains HFCS.
lee