For All You Ketchup Lovers Out There

Wayne Boatwright said:

Ketchup was originally made from fish broth and mushrooms. Tomatoes were
added later.

Interesting. Smuckers used to make a traditional tomato ketchup which
came in
a jam/jelly type jar rather than a squeeze bottle, so you spooned it
out. It was
good, but I haven't seen it in years. I've made ketchup but I just
wanted to see how
it worked. It's not something I'd spend a lot of time on. Everything
I've ever read tells
me that ketchup was originally a grape based procudct, but - personally
- I don't know..

"Wayne Boatwright" <wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Recently posted on rec.food.historic:

Ketchup was originally made from fish broth and
mushrooms. Tomatoes were added later. Today,
ketchup must contain sugar, otherwise it must be
called imitation ketchup. - From the Food History
section of Oddities & Wonders

I posted a bunch of ketchup recipes to rec.food.recipes a couple of years
ago. The post's still on google and I was just going to direct people
there, but after looking at the original, decided I'd repost it -- that way
the attributions and formatting are still intact (I've given up posting to
rfr because the moderators are unable to keep their mitts off the posts and
I'm damned tired of finding attributions stripped and recipes reformatted
for no good reason). Anyway ...

Here 'tis. Enjoy the novelty, if nothing else. 🙂
-j
*****

Please Note: The older recipes in this post (from the American Heritage
Cookbook, the Culinary Handbook and the Spice Cookbook) may not conform to
today's recommended home canning safety standards. They are included for
historical interest and reference only.

*****
From The Oxford Companion to Food
Ketchup -- A general name for a range of salty, spicy, rather liquid
condiments. These belong to the cuisines of the western world, but all are
descended from oriental ancestors. The word "ketchup" comes from the
Chinese (Amoy dialect) "ketsiap," meaning a fermented fish sauce, probably
via the Malay word "kechap," now spelled "kecap," which means "soy sauce."
The word was brought back to Europe by Dutch traders who also brought the
oriental sauce itself. The sauce has changed far more than has the word,
although the name has appeared in
a large number of variations such as catchup and catsup.

Tomato ketchup is the best known and almost the only ketchup left nowadays
although formerly there were many different kinds, the only common features
being their salty taste, their concentrated texture, and the fact that they
kept well. Although tomato ketchup contains and indeed tastes principally
of sugar and vinegar, mushroom ketchup contains neither, and is nothing
other than a salted mushroom extract, differing also from tomato ketchup in
its liquid transparent consistency. C.Ann Wilson (1973) believes that
mushroom ketchup was the first kind in Britain; people used to pickle
mushrooms, intending to use the mushrooms, but then started using the pickle
too, and finally took to using the pickle by itself.

Oysters, mussels, walnuts, and many other ingredients have been used to make
ketchup, and could be blended with spices, garlic or onions, wines, and
spirits to vary the flavour. Stobart (1980) cites from the 19th century a
host of ketchups including oyster, mussel, Windermere (mushrooms and
horseradish), wolfram (beer, anchovies, mushrooms), and pontac
(elderberries).

*****
From the American Heritage Cookbook
credited to Mrs. Samuel Whitehorne, "Sugar House Book," 1801
Collection of Newport Historical Society

Get them 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. Stir them to prevent burning. While hot press them
through a fine sieve, with a silver spoon till nought but the skin remains,
then add a little mace, 3 nutmegs, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, ginger and
pepper to taste. 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 Frugal Gourmet's Culinary Handbook
(based on Charles Fellows' Culinary Handbook, published in 1904)

Anchovy Catsup -- Anchovies, onions, whole cloves, mace, peppers and ginger,
sugar and old ale, brought to a quick boil, then slowly simmered till done,
strained through a hair sieve, cooled, walnut catsup added; bottled for use.
[Sorry, no recipe for walnut catsup supplied.]

Cucumber Ketchup -- Large cucumbers peeled and cored, then grated; to each
gallon of pulp after being drained, is mixed half a gallon of cider vinegar,
two teaspoonfuls of red pepper, eight teaspoonfuls of salt, and one pine of
fresh grated horseradish; when thoroughly incorporated it is bottled and
sealed.

Mushroom Catsup -- Fresh mushrooms wiped (not washed) and placed into crocks
in layers till full, each layer being well sprinkled with salt; when full,
cover with a folded cloth and stand in a warm place for 24 hours, then mash
and strain through a very coarse towel or sack; to each gallon of the liquor
thus obtained add a quarter of a pound of whole peppers and simmer for half
an hour, then add one ounce of whole cloves, one ounce of whole allspice,
two ounces of bruised ginger and half an ounce of whole mace, simmer for
another half hour, then remove from fire; when cold, strain through a jelly
bag, bottle, cork and seal.

*****
From The Spice Cookbook
Spiced Cranberry Catsup
1 pound fresh cranberries
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup water
1-3/4 cups light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon salt

Wash cranberries and place in a saucepan with vinegar, water and sugar.
Cover, bring to boiling point, and boil 8 to 10 minutes, or only until
cranberries are soft. Put through a coarse sieve, pushing as much of the
cranberries through as possible. Add remaining ingredients and stir and
cook 10 to 12 minutes or until mixture has thickened. Cool. Cover and
store in the refrigerator until ready to use. Or, if desired, double this
recipe, turn into sterilized 1/2 pint jars and seal airtight.
Yield: 2 cups.

*****
From Preserving Today
Mushroom Ketchup
Makes about 2 cups
This may seem like a lot of mushrooms for a little sauce, but you need not
waste the chopped mushrooms that you strain out before bottling the ketchup.
They may be used to make duxelles, a coarse puree of mushrooms and onions to
use as a seasoning in sauces, soups and stews. The dried oriental mushrooms
called for really enhance the flavor. This recipe is adapted from Angus
Cameron's recipe in The LL Bean Game & Fish Cookbook, by Mr. Cameron and
Judith Jones.

2 ounces dried oriental mushrooms
1 cup very hot water
1-1/4 pounds cultivated mushrooms
2 tablespoons salt
1/4 cup each cider vinegar and tawny port
1/4 teaspoon each of ground allspice, ground mace, ground nutmeg, and
black pepper
Pinch of ground cloves
1 inch anchovy paste from a tube (optional)
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl or a 1-quart canning jar, cover
with the water, weight with a saucer or an empty jar to keep the mushrooms
submerged, and let stand 30 minutes, until they are soft. Lift out the
mushrooms with a slotted spoon, pour the soaking water through a paper
coffee filter set in a strainer over a jar or deep bowl, and reserve. With
scissors, cut the soaked mushrooms into pieces, discarding the stems, which
are tough. Then, wash the cultivated mushrooms under cold running water and
set them on a double layer of paper towels to drain. Transfer both kinds of
mushrooms (half or quarter the cultivated variety if they are large) to the
workbowl of a food processor, in batches if necessary, and pulse/chop fine;
do not liquefy. Transfer the mixture to a 1-quart refrigerator container,
stir in the salt, cover tightly and refrigerate for 2 or 3 days, stirring
occasionally. Then, drain the mushrooms in a fine-meshed strainer set over
a deep bowl, pushing with a wooden spoon to extract as much liquid as
possible. Place a handful of the chopped mushrooms at a time in a large
white cotton handkerchief and twist it over the strainer to obtain still
more liquid; set the solids aside to make duxelles. When you have wrung out
as much liquid as possible, pour it through a paper coffee filter (do not
reuse the first one) set in a strainer over a 1-1/2 quart saucepan; add the
reserved filtered liquid from the oriental mushrooms, and all remaining
ingredients, and boil, uncovered, about 30 minutes. Pour into hot,
sterilized bottles, cover, and cool. Label and refrigerate for immediate
use; freeze for long-term storage. Shake before using to mix in the
sediment that settles during storage.

Green Tomato and Horseradish Sauce
Makes about 6 cups
Sometimes old recipes can be misleading, as I learned the first time I made
this sauce. It was overcooked and oversalted. And no wonder! The original
recipe, in a book published almost a century ago in Canada, called for
day-long cooking and a whole cup of salt! But I liked the combination of
ingredients, so I worked out a version that cooks in an hour. It is
particularly good with boiled fresh (or smoked) tongue and almost any kind
of grilled fish.

1 pound green tomatoes
1/2 pound green bell peppers
1 pound onions
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon coarse (kosher) salt, or 2 tablespoons
uniodized salt or pickling salt
1 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2-1/2 cups cider vinegar
2 6-ounce bottles prepared horseradish packed in vinegar, or about 1
cup grated fresh horseradish

Core the tomatoes, stem and seed the green peppers, and peel the onions.
cut the tomatoes and onions into chunks, and pulse/chop all three vegetables
in a food processor to a coarse texture. Transfer the prepared vegetables
to a 1-1/2 quart bowl (not aluminum), stir in the salt, and let stand 8
hours or longer. Drain, rinse, and drain again. Place the vegetable mixture
in a wide 2-1/2 or 3-quart saucepan, add the sugar, spices, and vinegar, and
simmer about 1 hour, or until thick, stirring occasionally. Add the
horseradish during the last 5 minutes or cooking. Ladle, boiling hot, into
hot, sterilized jars, seal, cool, label, and store a week or two before
serving. This recipe is easily halved.

Green Tomato Ketchup
Makes about 5-1/2 cups
Maine's seafaring families undoubtedly developed a taste for ketchup when
sea captains returning from voyages to Asia brought word of a spicy
condiment the Chinese called koechiap or ketsiap, and the Malaysians called
kechap or kechup. Imitations of these sauces (or condiments, if you prefer)
began appearing in the seventeenth century -- imitations made with cucumbers
or walnuts or mushrooms, and later, tomatoes from the Americas. The
oriental ketchups were based on fish brine with herbs and spices, and
versions of this are still in use today throughout Southeast Asia. My
version is based on an old American recipe devised by a Pennsylvanian to use
up green tomatoes that had to be harvested before the first frost. It is
both peppery and fruity. The tomato, apple, and onion combination makes it
a good relish to serve with everything from hamburgers to pork and ham
roasts. If the yield is too much for your household, the recipe is easily
halved. It also freezes well.

1 pound onions
1 pound green tomatoes
1 pound [censored] green apples
1-1/2 tablespoons coarse (kosher) salt, or 1 tablespoon uniodized salt
or pickling salt
2 cups white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon each hot red (cayenne) pepper, ground cloves, and ground
cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground mace
2 teaspoons ground mustard
1/4 cup sugar
Green vegetable coloring (optional)

Peel the onions and tomatoes and slice thinly in a food processor. Peel and
core the apples and slice thin in a food processor. Layer the onions,
tomatoes, and apples in a 1-1/2 or 2-quart bowl (not aluminum); sprinkle
each layer with some of the salt. Let stand about 12 hours, or overnight.

The next day, drain well, and puree the mixture in a food processor. Place
all the ingredients except the food coloring in a wide 4-quart saucepan.
Bring quickly to a boil, stirring once or twice. Boil steadily about 30
minutes, or until mixture is almost as thick as bottled tomato ketchup. It
will thicken more as it cools. Add the vegetable coloring, if desired.
Ladle into hot sterilized jars, seal, cool, label and store at least 1 month
before using.

jacqui{JB} said:

I posted a bunch of ketchup recipes to rec.food.recipes a couple of years
ago. The post's still on google and I was just going to direct people
there, but after looking at the original, decided I'd repost it -- that
way the attributions and formatting are still intact (I've given up
posting to rfr because the moderators are unable to keep their mitts off
the posts and I'm damned tired of finding attributions stripped and
recipes reformatted for no good reason). Anyway ...

I posted a couple ketchup recipes here a couple years ago. Here they are
again; the source for the recipes is _Salsas, Sambals, Chutneys, and
Chowchows_ by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby.

Stan's Peach Catsup

"This is a great way to use slightly overripe peaches; when they start to
develop a few little brown spots just toss 'em into a catsup. Their flavor
is truly incredible at that point. Of course, you can also use just regular
ripe peaches too.

This recipe is from . . . Stan Frankenthaler, chef at The Blue Room in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a good ol' boy from Georgia.

Here you can see the intersection of a modern chef and his culinary roots.
Since this is a Southern-inspired recipe, try it with any type of chicken,
particularly barbecued or fried. Or, if you want to be really right, serve
it with a batch of french-fried Vidalia onions."

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
5 ripe peaches, pitted and roughly chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)

In a saucepot, heat the oil over high heat until hot but not smoking. Sauté
the onion slices in the vegetable oil over medium heat until transparent,
about 5 minutes. Add the peaches and cook for an additional 4 minutes,
stirring frequently. Add all the remaining ingredients except the lemon
juice and simmer over low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. If
necessary, add a small amount of water to prevent the mixture from burning.
Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice, and puree in a blender or food
processor.

This catsup will keep, covered and refrigerated, several weeks.

Chunky Papaya Catsup

"This tropical-flavored catsup uses the Indian technique of frying spices
before using them. This seems to intensify the flavors of the spices, makes
them easier to digest, and sure makes your kitchen aromatic.

Basically, this is a smooth chutney, with the sweet-sour taste contrasts
characteristic of the genre, and lends itself to many combinations. It's
great on a burger or as a basting sauce or with horseradish as a tropical
cocktail sauce. Or try it on deep fried plantain chips"

4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, peeled and diced small
1/2 red bell pepper, diced small
1/2 green bell pepper, diced small
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon each ground allspice, curry powder, and ground cumin
4 ripe papayas, peeled, seeded, and cut into bite-sized chunks
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup molasses
2 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

In a large sauté pan, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat until hot but
not smoking. Add the onions and sauté about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring
frequently, until onions have become translucent and have begun to char
slightly. Add the bell peppers and cook an additional 2 minutes, stirring
frequently. Add the garlic and spices and cook an additional 2 minutes,
stirring constantly. The mixture will be quite dry at this point.

Add the papaya, vinegar, pineapple juice, and molasses, stir well, and allow
to come to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 25 minutes,
or until the mixture has become slightly thinner than tomato catsup. (It
will thicken up more as it cools.) Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper to
taste, and stir well.

This catsup will keep, covered and refrigerated, 3 to 4 days.

Bob