
The History of Ketchup - ohjeez
https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2019/01/the-history-of-ketchup/
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leoc
> Ketchup was not invented in the United States. It began as a fermented fish
> sauce — sans tomatoes — in early China. British sailors bought the sauce,
> called ke-tsiap or ke-tchup by 17th-century Chinese and Indonesian traders,
> to provide relief from the dry and mundane hardtack and salt pork they ate
> aboard ship. Over the next couple of centuries, ketchup spread throughout
> the British Empire, traveling around the world with the navy.

Supposedly Asian fish sauces are similar to both Worcestershire sauce
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcestershire_sauce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcestershire_sauce)
and the ancient Roman _garum_
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garum) .
Some say that _Colatura di alici_
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colatura_di_Alici](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colatura_di_Alici)
from Cetara in Italy is the best of them all.

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nerdponx
The (surely apocryphal) origin story I heard for Worcestershire sauce was that
it was a (failed) attempt to replicate an Indian tamarind chutney, which was
abandonded, left to ferment in barrels, and rediscovered.

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lunchladydoris
I've been eating ketchup for 40 years. I've never kept it in the fridge. I
hate putting a thick cold sauce on hot food. I've always assumed that the
vinegar and preservatives were enough to make it last for the short time a
bottle of ketchup lasts in my house.

~~~
Pete_D
Same, no problems yet. A hypothesis I found while looking into it: shelf life
of condiments nowadays might be less than it used to be due to manufacturers
cutting sugar and salt.

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JoeDaDude
The history of ketchup is covered in the first 15 minutes or so of this talk:

[https://youtu.be/R7RP9rMDnBE](https://youtu.be/R7RP9rMDnBE)

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richardhod
Malcolm Gladwell wrote an excellent piece in the New Yorker 15 years ago on
this topic. Worth a read.

[https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/09/06/the-ketchup-
co...](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/09/06/the-ketchup-conundrum/)

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xmichael999
This guy does a pretty good version, I tried it, not bad at all

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29u_FejNuks&t=311s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29u_FejNuks&t=311s)

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asaph
So what's the difference between ketchup and catsup?

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asaph
> Is there a difference between ketchup and catsup?

> No. (Rest easy, Mr. Burns.) Both are names for a sauce that once was made
> using a variety of ingredients, including mushrooms and walnuts, and is now
> primarily made using tomatoes.[0]

[0]
[http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/04/22/ketchup_vs_ca...](http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/04/22/ketchup_vs_catsup_differences_none_at_all_video.html)

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jonathanstrange
I once made my own ketchup. After nearly 2 hours of work the result tasted
pretty much like a really cheap and not very good commercial ketchup. Before
you add sugar and vinegar, it tastes like a delicious Indian tomato sauce,
though.

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greggeter
Mushroom version: [https://youtu.be/29u_FejNuks](https://youtu.be/29u_FejNuks)

