| Ketchup was once used as a medicine in the United States. In the 1830's it was sold as Dr. Miles Compound Extract of Tomato. | |
Want to see a a cordon bleu chef hit the ceiling? Simply whisper that most horrific word, “ketchup”. This condiment is seen universally around the globe, and has been eaten with just about every food imaginable, but most commonly fries, burgers, scrambled eggs. And not so commonly cottage cheese and ketchup favored by Richard Nixon. But is Ketchup healthy or even good for you?
This is how Hienz first became a health food. The saucy tomatoey product became so popular, it’s was thought that the name is taken from Asian culture. The 17th century Asians were enjoying a pickled fish sauce, ke-tsiap, or kecap. But wait! The original didn't have tomatoes. Not until this spicy addition made its way across the Atlantic later in the next century.
The first ketchup.
Printed in Elizabeth Smith’s book, The Compleat Housewife,1727, but alas, still no tomotoes.
In the early 1800's, a recipe for tomato ketchup appeared first in a Nova Scotian recipebook of a former American, who named it “love apple” ketchup. This recipe was not published in the U.S.A. for a good reason, that being up until the early 1800s, tomatoes were actually thought to be poisonous. Colonel Robert Johnson ate a basket of tomatoes on the steps of the courthouse in Salem, New Jersey on Sept.26, 1820, survived, and this food was accepted as an edible product.
The abundent red fruit, created a scramble to produce a new variety of tomatoey sauce. By 1930, it had become a staple of western hemisphere diet, and not only was it not thought of as being poisenous any more it made it's way into being a healthful fad. As a marketing ploy, an enterprising manufacturer bottled it as Dr. Miles Compound Extract of Tomato. It was reputed to be the latest cure for everything from athletes foot to baldness. At this point, the H.J. Heinz company found scientific reports claiming tomatoes had antioxidants which were helped to prevent cancer. This may in fact be true but the carotenoid known as lycopene is in such small quantities even if entire bottles were heaped upon your macaroni and cheese the benifits would be nil.
