PETALING JAYA: Many people enjoy having French fries with chilli sauce, tomato ketchup, or for some, mayonnaise. These condiments add a tangy and salty flavor that complements various meals.
However, has tomato ketchup always been made from tomatoes? That’s a common misconception, but the answer is FALSE.
The association of ketchup with tomatoes didn’t begin until 1812. Before that, it was made with a variety of other ingredients such as mushrooms, oysters, mussels, walnuts, celery, and fruits like plums and peaches, and was not red in color.
Historians believe that the word ‘ketchup’ comes from the Hokkien Chinese word ‘kê-tsiap’, which refers to a fermented fish sauce. This sauce is thought to have been brought to southeastern China by traders from Vietnam.
Upon returning home from their travels, British traders attempted to replicate the fermented fish sauce using local ingredients and developed ketchup made from non-tomato ingredients.
These ingredients were usually boiled down or left to sit with salt for extended periods, resulting in a salty, spicy sauce that could be preserved for a long time.
It wasn’t until 1812 that horticulturist James Mease published the first known tomato ketchup recipe. This pivotal moment led to the popularization of tomato-based ketchup, which became the ubiquitous form we know today.
Heinz, a new company at the time, introduced its famous tomato ketchup formula in 1876, which included tomatoes, distilled vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and various spices.
Heinz also innovatively used glass bottles to package their ketchup, setting a standard for transparency in food products. Today, Heinz is the best-selling brand of ketchup in the USA.
As it stands, the tomato-based ketchup is the most common form of the condiment in the United States and Europe. Its evolution from fish sauce to tomato-based sauce is now an intriguing part of food history that many may not know about.
More information about the history of ketchup can be found in the following sources:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/how-was-ketchup-invented
