KETCHUP - A GREAT CONDIMENT

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