Comments on: Ketchup / Catsup

By: Catsup

Catsup — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 23:39:18 +0000

Ketcup just comes from catsup the word ketchup was made by hienz

By: Rik

Rik — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:03:24 +0000

Ketchup comes from the Chinese word for tomato, which is fan ke, or ke, for short. Jup means sauce, so it is actually properly pronounced Ke-jup=Ketchup.

By: Craig Scheir

Craig Scheir — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:57:01 +0000

I’ve been to England and New Zealand with other Americans who have asked for ‘Ketchup’ in a restaurant only to receive something much like Bar-B-Que or steak sauce. Presumably to put on their ‘chips’ aka ‘fries.’ To get American ‘Ketchup’, one must order ‘tomato sauce.’ I don’t know what to ask for if you really want ‘tomato sauce’ – perhaps ask for Bar-B-Que sauce!

By: Ray Tackett

Ray Tackett — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:28:00 +0000

The Chinese fish sauce sounds like what the Vietnamese call “Nuoc Mam”. In the mid-60s, the Nuoc Mam capital was Phan Thiet. There, they laid fish strips on bamboo racks and circulated boiling brine over the fish strips for several days.

The result smelled like last week’s socks and was extremely salty. It was so concentrated and “fragrant” that Air Vietnam would allow the stuff only in the cargo hold and in sealed, unbreakable containers.

Nuoc Mam was at least as ubiquitous as ketchup throughout the country. One could discern mealtimes in any village within 20 miles upwind.

For westerners, a half-liter bottle is a lifetime supply. A teaspoon of the stuff spread over a large steak is pretty good — once.

My buddies and I would mix it with most any C-ration meal in the hope of creating or disguising the basic Army flavor. Results varied according to individual taste, mostly bad.

You hear all this from an enthusiastic ketchup user.

By: Elizabeth Lightwood

Elizabeth Lightwood — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 03:53:57 +0000

The original stuff sounds rather like garum, which the Romans inexplicably regarded as food.