A brief history of ketchup
 

AKA catsup. Article here: https://theconversation.com/a-brief-...-ketchup-99812

Three random things about me and ketchup:

I've actually tried banana ketchup. Not bad.

I often wonder if there is any causal relationship between Ketchup's fish-based ancestors (or modern fish sauce) and garum, the fish sauce favored by ancient Rome. I should do the research.

I think a little bit of America died the day Hunt's stopped making catsup and started making ketchup.

Another one. "Fancy" ketchup isn't just a marketing gimmick like I'd long thought it was. It's actually defined by the USDA and means it meets the standards for USDA grade A ketchup.

https://www.brandeating.com/2015/06/...hloYJMWj3Qz.99

Ahhh... this takes me back to when newsgroups were a thing - a FREE thing - and I was subscribed to alt.ketchup. Before the spam porn (porn spam?) filled up the board.

I would say "porn spam." "Spam porn" creates a very different mental image. (With or without ketchup.)

Does anyone else feel weird/wrong if they use branded ketchup packets from a different fast food place? For example, using McDonald's branded ketchup packets on your Burger King fries?

I think I would feel weird if I did that, but mostly because I would wonder how it happened. I assume you mean that someone has taken home packets from one place, then later on get food from another place to bring home. At home I always use fry sauce, so this could only happen to me at a restaurant.

Correct about how it would happen. Some places give you way more packets than we'd need. So we reuse them later on rather than get more packets from a different restaurant.

So am I the only cheapskate who, when the girl at the In-N-Out drive thru asks me if I want ketchup, always says yes? Even though I already have ketchup at home. Because why not; it's free ketchup.

So I never encounter the scenario you asked about earlier, because I always get ketchup from the restaurant I got the food from. Any leftover packets get saved and I use them when I want ketchup on something I cooked at home.

no, you are not alone!

I take some to work so I never have to remember ketchup and also there are certain foods at home that I only like with room temperature ketchup (instead of from the bottle in the fridge), like grilled cheese.

I have a slight aversion to ketchup packets because my dad (who worked maintenance at a college) used to bring them home from the cafeteria so frequently that we filled a 5 gallon bucket with them. Even though they were sealed, warm weather caused them to spoil and sometimes leak. I eventually insisted we toss them all.

Only if I were using McDonald's branded ketchup at Burger King. :lol:

From the OP article:
This is the ketchup bottle our group had when traveling in Uganda and Kenya:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/852/2...d33514c1_c.jpgUntitled by mtwilda, on Flickr

So this condiment brand markets its ketchup based solely on its Americanness. I'm not sure I believe that "US grade A" claim, though. I don't really think the USDA is sending inspectors to Kenya or Uganda or wherever this is manufactured to grade their ketchup.

I don't think I want ketchup that was "born in the USA".

For a few reasons ketchup has become one of the products many Canadians are now going out of their way to buy "made in Canada". It started when Heinz closed an Ontario based factory and it gained traction with Trump and the Tariff Wars. Now I see ketchup with "proudly made in Canada" and similar on the front just so we can be reassured that we aren't buying US made stuff.

Ha! I like ketchup on hot dogs. Did you hear that sausage group something or othe? I don't think that makes me or my palette , " imature." You know what's worse, though? I eat it with steak. Yes, you saw it steak. That's how I like it.

I dislike it very much when people tell me I'm eating it wrong. If I like it and it's not going to kill me than butt the hell out and keep your snobby purely subjective opinions to yourself.


Heh, I don't eat ketchup on fries, and I'm a Heinz chic.

Today I had Hellman's Ketchup. Never seen that brand here before, but now I see they are Unilever, so they are basically everywhere.

My favorite brand is Thomy, but they sell it in bottles which are significantly smaller than the Heinz brand bottles. Since I use ketchup mostly as an ingredient, I have been buying Heinz, which is anyway manufactured in the Netherlands.

Might stick with Thomy, but it's own by Nestle. :(

You eat ketchup on hot dogs with steak? Sounds great! :fish:

Hellmann's is a popular mayonnaise brand in some markets (virtually the same as Best Foods mayonnaise, made by the same company and sold in different markets). I believe they introduced ketchup to give a slap at Heinz, which recently re-introduced mayonnaise with their brand.

Hijack:

When I glance at this post, I keep seeing Thorny instead of Thomy. In the font I'm seeing on this site, they look almost identical.

thorny -- definitely not owned by Nestle -- locust

American Garden seems to be a unique food manufacturer, with most of their products made in the United States but normally not marketed in the United States.

I used to see their products in Kuwait and I seem to recall of the ones I checked, they were all made in the United States. I don't recall specifically seeing the ketchup product.


Based on their product page for ketchup, they claim:

Made from California vine-ripened tomatoes, and Certified US Grade A our ketchup recipe combines a balanced blend of spices to make a sweet and tangy sauce that is the perfect accompaniment to any dish.


http://www.americangarden.us/en/product/u-s-ketchup/