Ketchup has been classified as a pretty American condiment. It’s almost considered as American as baseball, right?
But alas, ketchup isn’t all that American afterall. Ketchup was invented in China, where the first recipe of ketchup was recorded and very popular around Southeast Asia.
This sixth century original recipe consisted of fish guts including, the bladder, intestines, and stomach, all mixed with salt. This concoction would be left in the sun for 20 days, essentially creating a fermented fish paste.
This recipe sounds like one of those recipes that might sound strange at first but are delicious in actuality.
In the 1600s, British and Dutch settlers fell in love with this recipe. So much so that, overtime, they brought it home with them and made their own combinations adding different ingredients such as mushrooms, beer, oysters, walnuts, strawberries, and peaches. By the 1700s, this ketchup was a staple on English tables.
As colonists later made their way westward, ketchup was introduced to the Americas.
In 1812, Horticulturist James Mease introduced and published his very own tomato ketchup recipe, being that tomatoes are, in fact, native to the Americas. Toward the end of the 18th century, the New-York Tribune coined tomato ketchup as “America’s National Condiment”.
Amazing, right?
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