Food Holidays: June 5th, 2021

Welcome back to our series sharing Food Holidays: June 5th, 2021. It’s National Ketchup Day. Can you believe there is a Holiday to celebrate Ketchup? Charlie and I couldn’t.

National Ketchup / Catsup Day

I don’t know if your home is like mine or not but we have to have Ketchup at most every meal or Ranch. If not then Charlie will not eat and with no, Ketchup a lot of times David will not eat.

Even though I hate to admit it Suzzane was the same way. Before you ask me if I am like them the answer is no. I do eat Ketchup but life will not end if we don’t have any.

Happy Ketchup Day!

Today’s Ketchup/ Catsup Food Trivia

1.  Ketchup (often spelled Catsup in American English) is the dominant term in American English and Canadian English, with “Catsup” being the prominent term in some southern US states.
2. The spelling Catsup first appeared in 1730 in a Jonathan Swift short story.
3. The Webster’s Dictionary of 1913 defined ‘Catchup’ as: “table sauce made from Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Walnuts, etc
4. Ketchup likely entered the English language from the Malay or Chinese word kicap (pron. “kichap”) meaning “fish sauce.”
5. Some Ketchup in the U.S. is labeled “Fancy”. This is a USDA grade, related to thickness. Fancy Ketchup has a higher Tomato solid concentration than other USDA grades.

An original early recipe for “Tomata Catsup” from 1817

1. Gather a gallon of fine, red, and full ripe Tomatas; mash them with one pound of Salt.
2. Let them rest for three days, press off the juice, and to each quart add a quarter of a pound of Anchovies, two ounces of Shallots, and an ounce of ground black Pepper.
3. Boil up together for half an hour, strain through a sieve, and put to it the following spices; a quarter of an ounce of Mace, the same of Allspice and Ginger, half an ounce of Nutmeg, a drachm of Coriander Seed, and half a drachm of Cochineal.
4. Pound all together; let them simmer gently for twenty minutes, and strain through a bag: when cold, bottle it, adding to each bottle a wineglass of brandy. It will keep for seven years.

(By the mid-1850s, the Snchovies had been dropped) I don’t think I want to make this Ketchup or even try it. How about you?

Homemade Ketchup:

Original recipe yields 48 servings Ingredient Checklist

• 2 (28 ounce) cans peeled ground tomatoes
• ½ cup water, divided
• ⅔ cup white sugar
• ¾ cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 ¾ teaspoons salt
• ⅛ teaspoon celery salt
• ⅛ teaspoon mustard powder
• ¼ teaspoon finely ground black pepper
• 1 whole clove

Step 1

Pour ground tomatoes into slow cooker. Swirl 1/4 cup water in each emptied can and pour into slow cooker. Add sugar, vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, celery salt, mustard powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and whole clove; whisk to combine.

Step 2

Cook on high, uncovered, until mixture is reduced by half and very thick, 10 to 12 hours. Stir every hour or so.

Step 3

Smooth the texture of the ketchup using an immersion blender, about 20 seconds.

Step 4

Ladle the ketchup into a fine strainer and press mixture with the back of a ladle to strain out any skins and seeds.

Step 5

Transfer the strained ketchup to a bowl. Cool completely before tasting to adjust salt, black pepper, or cayenne pepper.

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates