It’s ketchup time

Ketchup is one of the most widely used condiments but how did the word, and the savoury dip come about? The word was included in the 18th-century ‘Dictionary of the English Language’ by Samuel Johnson. It is widely acknowledged that ketchup originated from the Hokkein Chinese ke-tsiap, which is fish sauce that’s fermented. According to the book, ‘Our Fermented Lives’, by Julia Skinner, mushroom ketchup preceded the tomato version of ketchup. The book cites another origin story around the ketchup. It quotes authors William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi who say that soya sauce in Malay and Indonesian is called keh-chup or kecap. Ketchup is said to have linguistically originated from this Indonesian word, according to this version.

While the use of mushroom, fish and walnut ketchup was popular in the early 1700s, the use of tomatoes for ketchup started a good century later. According to the book, ‘Pure Ketchup: A History of America’s National Condiment’, by Andrew F Smith, the first known tomato ketchup recipe was published by James Mease, a Philadelphia scientist in 1812. The popularity of tomato ketchup, the book says, increased because of the rising consumption of tomatoes in the United States by the 1850s. Because the price of tomato ketchup became more affordable, it was used more widely than the mushroom and walnut ketchups which were priced higher, according to the book.

(Origin Story attempts to satiate your curiosity about the history of a certain ingredient or cuisine.)