Of course, we all love our ketchup on our fries but when dipping into this yummy red sauce, have you ever wondered about the history of ketchup as food. Did you know that the modern day Ketchup was once made from pickled fish and spices or that it was later on made with mushroom, walnuts and anchovies!! Imagine that fishy sauce on your fries!! Here is some interesting info about ketchup history.
 

 
It was the Chinese who came up with the oldest ancestor of ketchup. "Ke-tsiap" was a Chinese table sauce that had a mixture of pickled fish and spices and was more similar in taste to the present day soy or oyster sauce than the sweet, vinegary ketchup of today.  By 18th century (1740) ketsiap had become popular in Malaysia and also among the British and Dutch explorers harbored there. Soon the salty picked fish sauce bought its way back into Europe, specifically Britain.  
 
The British din't waste time in trying to anglicize the Ke-tsiap and the ingredients were experimented with promptly. Soon the British renamed ketsiap to catchup and then ketchup. The main ingredients used in this version of the sauce varied from mushrooms, anchovies, oysters, to walnuts. Yes, still a far cry from our favorite ketchup….a little patience, there is more to the story.
 
It was in 1727 that the first standardized ketchup recipe was printed in Elizabeth Smith's The Compleat Housewife. The ketchup recipe used anchovies, shallots, vinegar, white wine, sweet spices like cloves, ginger, mace, nutmeg and then pepper and lemon peel. This ketchup had a thin consistency and transparent.
 
Once the ketchup reached America, the ardent love for tomatoes in the continent led to the production of the tomato ketchup. The first of its kind! Unlike the modern day ketchup it was a little more watery than today’s ketchup but became quiet the sauce of choice for millions.
 
The first tomato ketchup recipe is said to have been published in Nova Scotia by American ex-pat James Mease in who preferred to call it love-apple ketchup. Sandy Addision is also said to have created a recipe for ketchup in 1801 which later got published in the Sugar House Book. Another tomato ketchup recipe was published in 1824 in The Virginia Housewife written by Mary Randolph, Thomas Jefferson's cousin.
 
It was clear that the popularity of tomato ketchup was increasing and a man named Jona Yerkes wasted no time in mass producing and selling the tomato ketchup nationally. By 1837 he had succeeded in making the ketchup a national condiment!
 
American tomato ketchup being sold in Britain was called Tomato Chutney so that no one would get confused between the mushroom ketchup of Britain and the tomato ketchup of America.
 
In the early years of 20th century, the use of sodium benzoate as a preservative in condiments was banned and this lead to more alterations that finally lead to the tomato ketchup as we know it today!
 
Entrepreneurs like Henry J. Heinz that owned F. and J. Heinz that produced pickles looked for alternative recipes without using the banned preservative and thus was born the modern day Heinz ketchup in 1876. Till today, in America the Heinz Ketchup formula hasn’t changed and has been considered the standard for long.
 
The older version of the ketchup used to be thinner and watery because unripe tomatoes low in pectin where used. In modern day ketchup, pickled ripe tomatoes are used to make ketchup and this prevents the ketchup from spoiling and the flavor remains as addictive as before!  
 
The ketchup was sold in a variety of forms, in ketchup packets that later came with dip boxes and then at fast food joints they were taken directly from ketchup pumps into cups.
 
Hienz actually introduced colored ketchups in 2000 and then recalled it in 2006.  I wonder why the green, purple, pink, orange, teal, and blue ketchups dint survive..i am sure my kids would have loved them!!
 
Today ketchup has tomato concentrate, spirit vinegar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup or other sugar, salt, spice and herb extracts (including celery), spice and garlic powder, Allspice, cloves, cinnamon, onion, and other vegetables.
 
Tomato sauce is eaten with french fries, chips, hot dogs, hamburgers and even rice(in Japan), but it is also used in marinades and as bases for other sauces and dips.
 
KETCHUP TRIVIA
 
An ice cream manufacturer actually tried making a ketchup ice cream!
 
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