Known by many names, including red sauce, catsup, and red gravy, ketchup has become an all-American favorite condiment of the past two hundred years. However, there's a much richer and more interesting story behind it than you may realize. Not only was it originally made with fish brine and mushrooms, but the now distinctively American condiment was not red, and came from the Orient. Used as a sauce to mask unpleasant flavors, the kitjap manis, as it was called, was extremely cheap to make. Because of this, people could add spices or other flavors to customize the sauce to the particular dish or food it was to accompany. After almost one thousand years, the cherry-red sauce has evolved into a refined condiment suitable for a vast array of foods.
Spanning cultures and cuisines across the world, used in diverse countries such as Australia, Iran, New Zealand, South Africa, the U.K., and of course the U.S., ketchup is internationally known and recognizable with its thick, smooth texture and mellow yet zesty flavor. Made primarily of tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, cinnamon allspice, and cloves, there are many variations to produce gourmet red sauce. Interestingly, what is considered gourmet today is actually a composition of the original ingredients of the condiment. Mushrooms, onions, celery, and fish flavors were all used in the ketchup recipes of the past. Gourmet ketchup may sound like a contradiction in terms, but really isn't. A fancy version of the red gravy can be used in many recipes, and can add a special complexity to sauces that call for everyday ketchup, such as thousand island salad dressing and seafood cocktail sauce.
Today, we are able to enjoy this favorite condiment, ketchup, in great part due to the American cookbook, "Sugar House Book", published in 1801, which devised the ketchup recipe that we are so familiar with today. Later on, in 1824, Mary Randolph, the cousin of Thomas Jefferson, published an even more enthralling recipe for the tomato sauce. However similar the sauce may have been, it still contained ingredients like walnuts and mushrooms, and was watery and lackluster.
Not until the early 1900's did the modern ketchup emerge, due to concerns over the safety of a preservative used in the preparation of the sauce. Henry J. Heinz was the first person to eliminate the harmful preservative, and to create a thicker sauce that was perfect for the American foods to which we are accustomed.
So, as you pound on the bottom of that ketchup bottle, remember that it took over a thousand years to learn how to properly dress that hamburger and french fries.
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