(kăch'əp, kĕch'-) or cat·sup (kăt'səp, kăch'əp, kĕch'-) n.
A condiment consisting of a thick, smooth-textured, spicy sauce usually made from tomatoes.
[Probably Malay kicap, fish sauce, possibly from Chinese (Cantonese) kē-chap, equivalent to Chinese (Mandarin) qié, eggplant + Chinese (Mandarin) zhī, sap, gravy.]
WORD HISTORY The word ketchup exemplifies the types of modifications that can take place in borrowing—both of words and substances. The source of our word ketchup may be the Malay word kēchap, possibly taken into Malay from the Cantonese dialect of Chinese. Kēchap, like ketchup, was a sauce, but one without tomatoes; rather, it contained fish brine, herbs, and spices. Sailors seem to have brought the sauce to Europe, where it was made with locally available ingredients such as the juice of mushrooms or walnuts. At some unknown point, when the juice of tomatoes was first used, ketchup as we know it was born. But it is important to realize that in the 18th and 19th centuries ketchup was a generic term for sauces whose only common ingredient was vinegar. The word is first recorded in English in 1690 in the form catchup, in 1711 in the form ketchup, and in 1730 in the form catsup. All three spelling variants of this foreign borrowing remain current.
The history of ketchup and the history of advertising are inextricably intertwined. This is especially true in the case of the H.J. Heinz Company, a firm that pioneered many elements of the prepared food business and the modern advertising industry.
Born in 1844, Henry John Heinz began helping his mother with her gardens along the Allegheny River, just east of Pittsburgh, when he was nine years old. He learned business practices while working as a bookkeeper for his father's brickyard and at night school. By his teens he was employing three women to help process garden products and bottling his mother's horseradish for distribution. Heinz distinguished his horseradish from his competitors by using clear glass bottles to emphasize the product's purity.
Twenty years later, Heinz was operating another family food processing firm. Riding the New York elevator one day in 1892, he saw a sign advertising 21 varieties of shoes. He took the concept, came up with a figure of 57 because he thought it was a memorable number, and created the catch phrase "Heinz 57 Varieties."
In 1893, seeking to bolster attendance at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Heinz distributed thousands of small tokens throughout the fair grounds. The tokens were redeemable for a free Heinz souvenir, a watch charm in the shape of a pickle, at the food pavilion, which was soon overrun with visitors. The "pickle pin" went on to become one of the best-known corporate souvenirs in history, with over 100 million distributed.
In 1898, Heinz bought the Iron Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey, renamed it the Heinz Ocean Pier, and operated it until 1945 as a free public attraction with antique displays, lectures, concerts, and motion pictures amid the displays of Heinz products and souvenirs.
William S. Pretzer
Background
Ketchup, a tangy, seasoned tomato sauce, is one of America's favorite condiments. Although ketchup, also spelled catsup, is used primarily as a relish for hamburgers, hot dogs, and french fries, it is also a common ingredient for sauces, meatloaf, beans, and stews. During the mid-1990s the sales of ketchup exceeded $400 million annually.
The tangy sauce originated in ancient China as a brine of pickled fish or shellfish called "ke-tsiap." Neighboring countries adopted their own variations of "kechap" consisting of fish brine, herbs, and spices. In the late 1600s, English sailors visiting Malaysia and Singapore were so impressed with the sauce that they took samples home. English cooks attempted to duplicate the spicy sauce, but without access to some of the exotic Asian ingredients, they improvised with cucumbers, mushrooms, nuts, oysters, and other variants.
One hundred years later, New Englanders created the definitive tomato ketchup when Maine seamen returned from Mexico and the Spanish West Indies with seeds of an exotic New World fruit called tomato. The tangy tomato ketchup quickly became a popular sauce for codfish cakes, meat, and other foods.
Making ketchup at home was a tedious, day-long process. The tomato mixture, cooked in heavy iron kettles at wood-burning stoves, required constant stirring to prevent it from burning. Scouring the preserving kettles meticulously was also no easy task. To the relief of many homemakers, ketchup became commercially available in the second half of the 1800s.
H.J. Heinz Co. developed one of the first leading brands of mass-marketed ketchup. The classic narrow-neck design of the Heinz ketchup bottle established the norm for the industry. The narrow-neck bottle simplified pouring the ketchup and minimized contact with air, which could darken the sauce. Glass was an ideal container because it was inert and did not react with the ketchup, and the clear glass allowed the consumer to see the product. Initially, the bottles were sealed with cork, dipped by hand into wax to prevent aeration, and topped with foil to further protect it from contamination. By the turn of the century, screw caps provided a more convenient closure. In the 1980s, plastic squeezable containers revolutionized ketchup packaging and soon outsold glass containers. Plastic was not only more convenient than glass for pouring the thick sauce, but also safer. Ten years later, in response to environmental concerns, recyclable plastic containers were also developed.
Raw Materials
The main ingredients of ketchup are tomatoes, sweeteners, vinegar, salt, spices, flavorings, onion, and/or garlic. The types of sweetener used are usually granulated cane sugar or beet sugar. Other sweeteners include dextrose or liquid sugar in the form of corn or glucose syrup. The white vinegar, commonly 100-grain distilled, helps to preserve the ketchup. The spices commonly used to enhance the flavor of the tomatoes are allspice, cassia, cinnamon, cayenne, cloves, pepper, ginger, mustard, and paprika. Some manufacturers believe that whole spices produce a superior, more mild flavor than ground spices or spice oils. More modern processes use premixed or encapsulated spices, which are easier to use but more expensive. Whatever the form, spices must be of a high quality.
The various brands of ketchup have slightly different formulas, which vary primarily in the amounts of spices or flavorings. Thicker consistencies require a greater ratio of sugar and spices relative to the tomato juice. Occasionally formulas must be slightly adjusted according to variations in the acid and sugar content of tomatoes, which occurs with changes in growing conditions and types of tomatoes.
The Manufacturing Process
Developing quality tomatoes
Ketchup manufacturers must seek out the best quality tomatoes for their product. Tomato varieties are developed which are superior in color, flavor, texture, and yield. Consistency is an important factor, as slight variations in tomato characteristics could alter the flavor and color of the finished product.
Preparing tomatoes
Tomatoes are harvested mechanically between June and July. The fruit is commonly conveyed by water from the trucks into a flume, or an inclined channel. The water method washes the tomatoes and protects them from bruising while they pass from the truck to the factory. The U.S. Department of Agriculture or state inspectors approve and grade tomatoes to meet initial requirements. The tomatoes are sorted, washed, and chopped. Next, precooking, or scaling, in stainless steel vats preserves the tomatoes and destroys bacteria.
Pulping
The chopped and precooked tomatoes are pumped into pulping machines, or cyclones, which separate seeds, skins, and stems from the pulp. The pulp and juice are filtered through screens and processed further into ketchup, though some may be stored in a paste for use later in the year.
Adding ingredients and cooking
The pulp is pumped into cooking tanks or kettles and heated to boiling. Foaming may occur if fresh tomato pulp is used, but can be corrected with anti-foaming compounds or compressed air. Precise amounts of sweeteners, vinegar, salt, spices, and flavorings are added to the tomato pulp. Most spices are added early in the cooking process. To avoid excessive evaporation, volatile spice oils and vinegar must be mixed in later. Onions and garlic can be mixed in with the spices, placed in a separate bag, or chopped and added to the pulp. Salt and sugar may be added at any stage of cooking though it is better to add sugar later to prevent burning. The mixture cooks for 30-45 minutes and is circulated by rotating blades installed in the cookers. The temperature must be carefully regulated to insure absorption of the ingredients without overcooking, which creates a flat body.
Finishing
Once the cooking is complete, the ketchup mixture passes through a finishing machine. Finishers remove excess fiber and particles through screens, creating a smoother consistency. The ketchup passes to a holding tank before further processing.
The ketchup may be milled at higher temperatures and pressures to achieve a smoother consistency.
Removing air
The ketchup must be de-aerated to prevent discoloration and growth of bacteria. Excess air might also create unattractive air pockets and impede the closure process.
Filling
To prevent contamination, the ketchup passes from the receiving tanks to the filling machines at a temperature not lower than 190°F (88°C). The containers are filled with the ketchup and immediately sealed to retain the freshness of the product. Ketchup containers come in various sizes and shapes, including 14-oz. bottles, No. 10 cans, pouch packs, room-service sizes, and single-serve packets.
Cooling
The containers must be cooled to prevent flavor loss through stack burning, which occurs when ketchup stays at high temperatures after cooking is complete. Containers of ketchup may be cooled in cold air or cold water.
Labeling and packing
Finally, the ketchup containers are labeled and coded with product information, including ingredients, date and location of manufacture, and shelf-life. The bottled ketchup may be inspected again before shipping. The entire process of ketchup manufacturing generally takes two to three hours.
Quality Control
Some of the commonly used preservatives during the 19th century included benzoate of soda, borax salicylic acid, benzoic, and formaldehyde, all of which could pose health risks when consumed in large quantities. A series of Pure Food Laws beginning in 1906 banned the use of the harmful preservatives.
In 1940, the U.S. government established a "Standard of Identity" for ketchup as tomato-based. Thus consumers could tell from the label that the product was made of tomatoes, since ketchup could also be made from other foods, including bananas, beets, or mangoes.
The quality of ketchup is insured by taking samples of the product during various stages of production. Tomato growers must comply with regulations set by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration regarding the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Increasing concern in the closing decades of the 20th century led to increased use of natural fertilizers and pesticides. Inspection is necessary of the tomatoes, ingredients, and of all processing equipment which comes into contact with the product.
Oxidation of ketchup can darken the color of ketchup, but de-aeration of the sauce during manufacture can prevent this problem. However, once the containers are opened, oxidation may still occur. Although the acidity of ketchup preserves the sauce, manufacturers recommend that once containers are opened they should be refrigerated to prevent deterioration of the ketchup color, flavor, and quality.
To maintain consistency in color and flavor, manufacturers determine the concentration of tomato solids in the mixture, since about one-third of the ketchup's acidity and sugar content depends on the amount of solids. The ketchup Grades A through C must conform to specific concentrations. The quality of the ketchup can be measured by its physical consistency, or body, which refers to the ability of the ketchup to retain its liquid in suspension. The slower the rate, the higher the grade of the ketchup. For instance, the Bostwick Consistometer, recommended by the USDA, set Grades A and B at flow rates at less than 4 inches (10 cm) in 30 seconds at 68°F (20°C).
The Future
Ketchup manufacturers continue to improve the quality of ketchup by developing tomato strains that are superior in color, flavor, and firmness. Tomato hybrids are also engineered to improve resistance to disease and rot, thus decreasing the reliance on chemical pesticides.
In the 1990s, in response to consumer demand for more healthful foods, ketchup manufacturers created low-calorie, low-salt ketchup alternatives. The increasing popularity of Spanish salsas and marinades also influenced manufacturers to develop salsa-style ketchups which were lower in sugar content. Packaging technology continues to improve as consumers demand safer, more convenient, and recyclable containers.
Where To Learn More
Book
Gould, Wilbur A. Tomato Production, Processing, and Quality Evaluation, 2nd ed. AVI Publishing Company, Inc., 1983.
Periodicals
McDermott, Michael J. "Salsamania! Mexican Sauce Marketing." Food & Beverage Marketing, August 1993, p. 8.
Strenk, Thomas. "Ketchup." Restaurant Business Magazine. May 20, 1993, p. 99.
Wagner, Jim. "Building the Best New Products in America." Food Processing, November 1993, p. 16.
Other
All About Heinz Ketchup. H.J. Heinz Co., 1991. P.O. Box 57, Pittsburg, PA, 15230-0057.
From the Chinese koechap or kitsiap, originally meaning brine of pickled fish. Now used for spicy sauce or condiment made with juice of fruit or vegetables, vinegar, and spices. Tomato ketchup is a common sauce; first known recipe published in Canada by James Mease in 1812.
[KEHCH-uhp; KACH-uhp] Ke-tsiap-a spicy pickled-fish condiment popular in 17th-century China-is said to be the origin of the name "ketchup." British seamen brought the ke-tsiap home and throughout the years the formula was changed to contain anything from nuts to mushrooms. It wasn't until the late 1700s that canny New Englanders added tomatoes to the blend and it became what we know today as ketchup. Also called catsup and catchup, this thick, spicy sauce is a traditional American accompaniment for French-fried potatoes, hamburgers and many other foods. Ketchup usually has a tomato foundation, though gourmet markets often carry condiments with similar appellations that might have a base of anything from walnuts to mangoes to mushrooms. Vinegar gives ketchup its tang, while sugar, salt and spices contribute to the blend. In addition to being used as a condiment, ketchup is used as an ingredient in many dishes.
Ketchup (also spelled Catsup or Catchup), also known as tomato ketchup or red sauce, is a condiment usually made from tomatoes. The primary ingredients in a typical modern ketchup are tomato concentrate, corn syrup (or other sugar), vinegar, salt, spice and herb extracts (including celery), spice and garlic powder[1].
Ketchup is often used with french fries, hamburgers, sandwiches, eggs, and grilled or fried meat. Ketchup is also used as a base for various sauces.
The predecessors of today's ketchup appeared in Great Britain and its empire in the late seventeenth century. The words catchup or ketchup are first attested in writing from 1690 and 1711, respectively (see Etymology below). These condiments were not tomato based, but were fermented or aged condiments akin to Worcestershire sauce, flavored vinegar, or relish. Ketchup recipes that appeared in nineteenth-century American cookbooks include mushroom, walnut, and oyster. Such condiments, practically forgotten today, can no longer be sold as ketchup in the United States, because the word ketchup and its spelling variants are legally defined by the Food and Drug Administration as a sauce thickened only with tomato solids, with the viscosity within a very narrow range.
Tomato ketchup
Although today ketchup is invariably tomato-based, it did not appear until about a century after other types. By 1801, a recipe for tomato ketchup was created by Sandy Addison and was later printed in an American cookbook, the Sugar House Book.[2] James Mease published another recipe in 1812. In 1824, a ketchup recipe using tomatoes appeared in The Virginia Housewife (an influential 19th-century cookbook written by Mary Randolph, Thomas Jefferson's cousin), where it was one of four ketchup recipes (the others were oyster, mushroom, and walnut). Tomato-ketchup recipes from this period lacked the vinegar and sweetener characteristic of ketchup today.
Ketchup on a hot dog.
As the century progressed, tomato ketchup began its ascent in popularity in the United States, influenced by the American enthusiasm for tomatoes. Tomato ketchup was sold locally by farmers. A man named Jonas Yerks (or Yerkes) is believed to have been the first man to make tomato ketchup a national phenomenon. By 1837, he had produced and distributed the condiment nationally. Shortly thereafter, other companies followed suit. F. & J. Heinz launched their tomato ketchup in 1876. Heinz tomato ketchup was advertised: "Blessed relief for Mother and the other women in the household!"
The Webster's Dictionary of 1913 defined "catchup" as a "table sauce made from mushrooms, tomatoes, walnuts, etc. [Written also ketchup]."
Modern ketchup emerged in the early years of the 20th century, out of a debate over the use of sodium benzoate as a preservative in condiments. Harvey W. Wiley, the "father" of the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S., challenged the safety of benzoate. In response, entrepreneurs, particularly Henry J. Heinz, pursued an alternative recipe that eliminated the need for that preservative.
An example of ketchup on a plate, for use as a dip.
Prior to Heinz (and his fellow innovators), commercial tomato ketchups of that time were watery and thin, in part due to the use of unripe tomatoes, which were low in pectin. They were also less vinegary than modern ketchups; by pickling ripe tomatoes, the need for benzoate was eliminated without spoilage or degradation in flavor. But the changes driven by the desire to eliminate benzoate also produced changes that some experts (such as Andrew F. Smith[3]) believe were key to the establishment of tomato ketchup as the dominant American condiment.
Until Heinz, most commercial ketchups appealed to two of the basic tastes: bitterness and saltiness. But the switch to ripe tomatoes and more tomato solids added a stronger umami taste, and the major increase in the concentration of vinegar added sourness and pungency to the range of sensations experienced during its consumption.
In the past, ketchup was produced from fresh tomatoes after harvesting. Vacuum evaporation made it possible to turn tomatoes into a very thick tomato paste that is easy to store at room temperature. This enables a factory to produce ketchup throughout the year.
Later innovations
In October 2000, Heinz introduced colored ketchup products, which eventually included green, purple, pink, orange, teal, and blue.[4] These products were made by adding food coloring to the traditional ketchup. As of January 2006[update] these products have been discontinued.[5]
Nutrition
The following table compares the nutritional value of ketchup with raw ripe tomatoes and salsa, based on information from the USDA Food Nutrient Database.[6]
Ketchup has been shown to provide significant health benefits but many argue that these benefits are offset by the food's salt and sugar content. Ketchup has been found to be a beneficial source of lycopene, an antioxidant which may help prevent some forms of cancer. This is particularly true of the organic brands of ketchup. In fact, organic brands were found to contain three times as much lycopene as non-organic brands.[7] Ketchup, much like marinara sauce and other cooked tomato foods, yields higher levels of lycopene per serving because cooking makes lycopene in tomatoes more bio-available.
Viscosity
Transferring ketchup between plastic squeeze bottles.
Tomato ketchup is a pseudoplastic, or "shear thinning," substance which can make it difficult to pour from a glass bottle. Often, the neck of the bottle will appear to be blocked. A common method to getting ketchup out of the bottle involves inverting the bottle and shaking it or hitting the bottom with the heel of the hand, which causes the ketchup to flow rapidly. A technique known widely among caterers involves inverting the bottle and forcefully tapping its upper neck with two fingers (index and middle finger together). Specifically, with the Heinz Ketchup product, one taps the 57 circle on the neck. This helps the ketchup flow by applying correct shearing force.[8] These techniques work because of how pseudoplastic fluids behave: their viscosity (resistance to flow) decreases with increasing shear rate. The faster the ketchup is sheared (by shaking or tapping the bottle), the more fluid it becomes. After the shear is removed the ketchup thickens to its original viscosity.
Concurrently the ketchup also remains in the bottle when the neck is blocked due to the lower air pressure found within a partially emptied bottle. As the ketchup "blockage" moves down the neck the air pressure within decreases, but due to the ketchup's viscosity air cannot move into the bottle to balance the pressure. A full bottle will tend to flow somewhat better than a half-full bottle. A simple remedy is to place a knife into the neck of the bottle creating a channel for the air to enter allowing the pressure to balance and the ketchup to flow more easily.
Another solution to this problem appeared with the introduction of plastic squeeze bottles. More recently, Heinz and others have introduced an "upside-down" bottle, which further remedies the problem by keeping the remaining ketchup at the mouth of the bottle. These bottles are also fitted with a control valve in the nozzle designed to eliminate the build-up of ketchup in the cap after use.
Etymology
The etymology of the word ketchup is uncertain, with multiple competing theories.[9]
China theory
One popular theory of the word's origin is that it derives from one of two words from the Fujian region of coastal southern China: "kôe-chiap" (in the Xiamen accent) or "kê-chiap" (in the Zhangzhou accent). Both of these words come from the Amoy dialect of China, where it meant the brine of pickled fish or shellfish.[10] The exact Chinese characters used to represent the word kôe-chiap have been disputed, with two primary theories as to the word's original Chinese orthography:
Eggplant sauce
The first theory[11] states that the word "ketchup" derives from a Chinese word composed of two characters (茄汁), which means "eggplant sauce". The first character (茄), meaning "eggplant," is also the root for the word "tomato" (番茄 in Mandarin and Cantonese or 紅毛茄 in Taiwanese), though at the time tomatoes were unknown in China. The second character (汁) means "juice" or "sauce." Pronunciations of this word vary by region, but their similarities to the English "ketchup" can be noticed.
The second theory states[citation needed] that "ketchup" derives from an Amoy word of two characters (鮭汁) meaning "fish sauce". The first character literally means "salmon" but can mean just "fish" in general. The second character is the same as in the above-mentioned theory.
Ketchup probably[11][12] entered the English language from the Malay word kicap (pron. "kichap", also spelled kecap, ketjap), originally meaning "fish sauce"[11], which itself may be[11] a loan from Chinese terms above.
European-Arabic theory
American anthropologist E.N. Anderson claimed that ketchup is a cognate of the French escaveche, meaning "food in sauce".[9] The word also exists in Spanish and Portuguese forms as escabeche, "a sauce for pickling", which culinary historian Karen Hess traced back to Arabic iskebey, or "pickling with vinegar".[9] The term was anglicized to caveach, a word first attested in the late 17th century, at the same time as ketchup.[9]
Early uses in English
The word entered the English language in England during the late seventeenth century, appearing in print as catchup (1690) and later as ketchup (1711). The following is a list of early quotations collected by the Oxford English Dictionary.
Blue Label Tomato Ketchup advertisement from 1898.
1690, B. E., A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew
Catchup: a high East-India Sauce.
1711, Charles Lockyer, An Account of the Trade in India 128
Soy comes in Tubbs from Jappan, and the best Ketchup from Tonquin; yet good of both sorts are made and sold very cheap in China.
1730, Jonathan Swift, A Panegyrick on the Dean Wks. 1755 IV. I. 142
And, for our home-bred British cheer, Botargo, catsup, and caveer.
1748, Sarah Harrison, The Housekeeper's Pocket-Book and Compleat Family Cook. i. (ed. 4) 2,
I therefore advise you to lay in a Store of Spices, ... neither ought you to be without ... Kitchup, or Mushroom Juice.
In 1981, Congress ordered the United States Department of Agriculture to issue new standards for federally financed school lunch programs, which would enable schools to economize; one of the USDA's proposals was to classify ketchup as a vegetable. The suggestion was widely ridiculed and the proposal was dropped.[13]
Get [the tomatoes] quite ripe on a dry day, squeeze them with your hands till reduced to a pulp, then put half a pound of fine salt to one hundred tomatoes, and boil them for two hours.
Boil over a slow fire till quite thick, stir all the time.
Bottle when cold.
One hundred tomatoes will make four or five bottles and keep good for two or three years."'
The salt in this recipe, which served as a preservative, yields an extremely salty taste. This recipe is important because tomato was not widely accepted by people in North America in the early 1800s. Many believed it was poisonous.
^ Ishida B, Chapman M (2004). "A comparison of carotenoid content and total antioxidant activity in catsup from several commercial sources in the United States.". J Agric Food Chem52 (26): 8017–20. doi:10.1021/jf040154o. PMID 15612790.
^ abcd "The etymological origin of the word ketchup is a matter of confusion." Pure Ketchup, by Andrew F. Smith, ISBN 1560989939. Page 4.
^ In the Chinese Amoy dialect, "kôe-chiap" (Xiamen accented Amoy) or "kê-chiap" (probably Penang Hokkien, which is based on Zhangzhou accented Amoy) signifies "brine of pickled fish or shell-fish" (The Oxford English Dictionary, Douglas Chinese Dict. 46/1, 242/1).
^ abcd "Ketchup". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, published by Houghton Mifflin Company
