Ketchup: Adding flavour for 2,000 years
First created as a soy-based condiment, it sure has changed
We are hardwired for few basic flavours; Sweet, salt, fat, sour or acidic, and umami. Combine any of these basic tastes together in a well-balanced way and our palates are more than satiated. Condiments are usually the key ingredient in most meals that make this happen. Sweet and sour sauce, salad dressing, soy and tamari sauce are such examples but the ultimate condiment that masters all of these tastes in perfect harmony is the modern preparation of ketchup.
Ketchup has been around for centuries. Not as the tomatobased condiment that the average Canadian consumes more than a kilogram of each year, but a sweet, fermented soy-based fish sauce that has been produced for over 2,000 years. Its disputed origins lay somewhere in the Indo-China region where it is known as kecap mani or ketjap manis pronounced KEH-chup MAH-nees. The Chinese version was made from a mushroom soy based concoction called kê-tsiap. These pronunciations inevitably saw the British create the English words ketchup, catsup and catchup some 300 years ago after they “discovered” kecap manis and kê-tsiap.
The first published tomato ketchup recipe appeared in the early 1800s and shortly thereafter the production of commercially bottled ketchup was born. Early tomato ketchups were made using coal tar as colorant and sodium benzoate as a preservative which by the end of the century were declared to be unhealthy to consume. Dr. Wiley, a health and food safety advocate, claimed that the use of harmful preservatives was redundant in foods if only quality ingredients were used and handled accurately.
Dr. Wiley partnered up with Henry J. Heinz and formulated a recipe that used ripe, red tomatoes that are loaded with the natural preservative pectin and increased the vinegar content which when these two elements were combined saw the American Heinz Company begin producing preservative-free ketchup.
Today there are a number of ketchup producers notably French’s ketchup which soared to fame by saving the Canadian tomato and ketchup producers when the American based Heinz disrupted things in Leamington Ontario.
The following recipe for beet ketchup will not help the tomato growers of Leamington but it will support the Canadian beet producers and makes a great adult ketchup that pairs well with red and game meats as well as strong flavoured cheeses that can be used in making a grilled cheese sandwich with a bit of beet ketchup for dipping in.
Beet Ketchup
• 5 beets, washed and trimmed
• ½ tsp. thyme leaves
• 5 tbsp. water
• 4 tbsp. cooking oil
• 3 sweet onions
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• 2/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1-2 tbsp. white or brown sugar, optional
• 1 tbsp. grated horseradish, optional
• Salt to taste
Method: Place beets in a Dutch oven. Add half the cooking oil and thyme to the pot and give it a good stirring before adding the water. Cover and bake for 40 minutes in a preheated oven at 300 °f .
While baking the beets peel and coarsely chop the onions and garlic. Add them to the beets after they finish their first 40 minutes of cooking and continue cooking the beets with the onions and garlic, covered for another 40 minutes or until the beets are fork tender and the onions become sweetly caramelized. Remove the pot from the oven and let it cool down enough that you can handle the beets and peel them.
Transfer the beets, onions and garlic into a food processor with the remaining cooking oil, vinegars, sugar and horseradish. Pulse and then process the mixture until it becomes smooth. Season the ketchup to taste using salt. At this point you will probably think that the beet ketchup is too watery but it should thicken up if left to rest, covered in the refrigerator overnight. Beet Ketchup will keep refrigerated for up to a week. Recipe yields about 3 cups or 750 ml.