>
>
>In the 1600s Dutch and British seamen brought back a salty pickled fish
>sauce called 'ketsiap' from China.

Not true. No evidence for Dutch or British seamen bring back pickled fish sauce
from China. Englishmen did bring it back from Indonesia.

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 work "catch-up" first appeared in print in 1682; "ketchup" in 1682.

>
>The first ketchup recipe was printed in 1727 in Elizabeth Smith's The
>Compleat Housewife,

No evidence for E. Smith's first name being "Elizabeth."

>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.

Not true. James Mease was an American who had nothing to do with Nova Scotia.
There is nothing "French" about his recipe, and Mease made no such claim.

>
>
>Recipes continued to appear periodically, featuring mushrooms in Britain and
>tomatoes in the United States.

Tomato, mushroom, etc. ketchup recipes were published both in the US and in
England until the early 20th century.


>
>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.


Yerkes hadn't even been born in 1837, so I don't think we can thank him for his
work at that time.

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.

This is absolutely false. Heinz didn't sell ketchup in 1872, and his company
went broke in 1875. It did not display anything at the Philadelphia Centennial
Fair in 1876.


The Heinz formula has not changed since, >

This is pure BS. I have the original formula, and if you use it, it ends up a
ruddy brown, thin product.

>
>In 1848 some ketchup manufacturers came under fire for their unsanitary
>practices-coal tar was frequently used to heighten the red color.

No ketchup manufacture came "under fire in 1848, or anytime thereafter for
decades.


Who makes up this stuff?

Andy Smith