Ketchup is an American icon. Ketchup is so versatile, being put on and/or dipped into with fries, hamburgers, chicken tenders, hot dogs, meatloaf, onion rings, baked beans and 93 other things. Ketchup is a potato chip flavor now. And these days you can find sriracha ketchup, curry ketchup, bacon ketchup, mango ketchup, Whataburger's delicious spicy ketchup, and if you had the privilege of being a 90's kid, back in the day you could find ketchup in blue, green, and purple. Ketchup is great at making food taste better. Up until recently, I hated tomatoes, but ketchup has always been my #1 condiment. According to Mobile Cuisine, 97% of Americans have ketchup in their kitchen, and June 5th is National Ketchup Day. Heinz alone sells over 650 million bottles a year. While ketchup is considered a pinnacle of American diets, it actually is not American, nor did ketchup originally come from tomatoes.
As early as 300 BC, texts documented using soybeans, fish entrails, and meat to create an early ketchup-ish concoction. According to National Geographic, the word "ketchup" comes from the Chinese word "ke-tsiap", which is the name of a sauce that was made from - fermented fish organs, coming from Vietnam in the 1600's. Yes, ketchup did not come from America or tomatoes, it came from jarred Southeast Asian fish bladder. The British, of course, encountered this fish sauce while in Southeast Asia and began to try to replicate it in the 17th and 18th centuries. Those early British ketchups used everything but tomatoes; mushrooms, anchovies, oysters, and even walnuts. The British had already been introduced to tomatoes thanks to South America, but many in England saw them as poisonous. Around 1801 is when the first tomato ketchup recipe was published. This recipe contained brandy and spices, but still no sugar or vinegar. Ketchup evolved over the next few decades with Jonas Yerkes being the first to begin selling bottles of tomato ketchup in 1837.
With ketchup connoisseurs not knowing how to properly store ketchup early on, plus public health concerns over additives led to the ketchup movement almost failing. One boujee, but right cookbook author in 1866 called commercial ketchup "filthy, decomposed, and putrid." Because of all the additives and chemicals, ketchup was even lethal. The tomato growing season was short, meaning ketchup could only be made for a few months of the year, but because of supply and demand, ketchup needed to be able to be preserved year long. In an era before regulation, this often resulted in commercial ketchup being spoiled with bacteria, mold, and spores. And in an era before modern medicine, this often meant a lot of sick people as a result. "Death by ketchup" doesn't sound as great as you would think it would sound.
In came Henry J Heinz in 1876 who figured that using fresh ripe tomatoes, natural preservatives, and more vinegar was key; no more chemicals and tighter preservation methods. By the 1900's, commercial ketchup began to take over America. 1906 also saw the passing of the Pure Food and Drug Act, which in turn made ketchup less deadly. Before then, ketchup was found more in cookbooks than commercially.
Not only has ketchup served as America's condiment, at one point it was seen as medicine. In 1834, a physician from Ohio named Dr. John Cook Bennett declared that tomatoes could be used to treat indigestion and diarrhea. Dr. Bennett published tomato ketchup recipes, which were turned into pills.
Ketchup has had a colorful history and it goes to show how food can amazingly evolve over time. Early ketchup was salty and bitter, but now it's sweet and savory. From fish stomachs left in the sun to tomatoes and vinegar, ketchup has came a long way to accompanying our chicken nuggets.
Also a side, the "57 varieties" in Heinz means nothing. The "5" was Heinz' lucky number and the "7" was his wife's. When Heinz decided to put that on bottles, his company was already producing over 60 products anyway. Also, if you happen to be in the Collinsville, Illinois area anytime soon, be sure to pull over and get an Instagram selfie with the World's Largest Catsup (Ketchup) Bottle.
*Maxim, National Geographic, History, Mobile Cuisine, Smithsonian, The Spruce Eats, Fast Company
