Ketchup is a great condiment – my favorite as a matter of
fact. It goes well on burgers and fries, hot dogs, sandwiches, mac and cheese,
and so much more. I must admit, however, most of my friends don’t appreciate
the flavor enhancement ketchup provides on a well-done filet.
A recent edition of the Saturday Evening Post ran a
three-page article about ketchup, and I learned a whole lot about my delicious
tomato topping. The timing is perfect as we prepare for the upcoming grilling
season.
Some interesting notes from the article are listed here.
“Ninety-seven per cent of Americans have ketchup in the
fridge, usually Heinz, and we buy 10 billion ounces annually – three bottles
per person per year.” Ok, we buy two or three times that much in our house, but
it’s so good!
Ketchup originally came from a Chinese fish sauce, “but
ketchup became truly American once it was wed with the tomato and bottled
industrially.” The tomato originated in Latin America and the Spanish
introduced it to Europe and the rest of North America.
In the nineteenth century homemade forms of ketchup were
used to flavor and spice up bland meals, but toward the 1900’s it was being
mass produced and bottled. Vinegar was added as a preservative, then sugar to
balance the sourness. Heinz was the first company to balance this flavor into a
“platonic ideal of ketchup.” Soon they were selling 5 million bottles a year.
An important side effect of Heinz’ processing of ketchup was
that they were “instrumental in developing, perfecting, and promoting sanitary
production methods, not only for its ketchup but for the dozens of products it
manufactured.” They began bottle and can sterilization and rules for
cleanliness for workers. Thus “ketchup influenced the way everything else was
processed.”
Thank God for the tomato and for Heinz perfecting ketchup!
Writing this has made me hungry for a well-done steak. Please pass the ketchup!
COPYRIGHT 2019 BY CARL E GUSTAFSON
