Ketchup - try "gourmet," make at home, or just skip?

[Ditdah]

The condiments and eggs thread got me thinking...

I don't like ketchup. Haven't really ever liked it, even as a kid. Since I live in the US, my friends act like this is anti-American: "You don't dip your fries in ketchup? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?" I don't know if I've ever purchased it in my entire life, although I have made cocktail sauce using it so I know it's at least in my fridge. (Althouh probably purchased by someone else.) If I'm ordering a burger somewhere and they normally put it on there, I'll eat it, although I don't really like it. But I never add it to anything, as I think it's just odd. Too sweet and not enough flavor of anything other than sugar and tomatoes...

However, I almost feel like I'm missing out. I've read through some threads on here where people mention homemade ketchup, and some people really prefer it that way, while others don't. I've seen restaurants that make their own. I know there are specialty stores that sell gourmet versions, possibly that don't taste as sweet and bland as the stuff from my mega-mart?

So, I'm wondering... am I actually missing out on a good culinary experience? Should I branch out and start to try other kinds of ketchup, or make my own? I love trying new things in the kitchen, and condiments can be especially fun. But I typically only make things I already like comercially prepared - salsa verde, salad dressings, mayo...

What do other CH's think? Do any of you not like "regular" ketchup, but enjoy homemade or gourmet versions? If I don't like Heinz, am I going to dislike the gourmet versions I can find at Sur La Table? Or are they totally different beasts, like store-bought vs. homemade mayo?

[chefathome]

I make all sorts of ketchups. One of my favourites is papaya. Most ketchups I make are not jam-like but more like the texture of commercial ketchup.

[paulj]

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts...
FDA rules on what may be in ketchup (catsup, catchup ok)

[babette feasts]

I hate ketchup too, and eat my fries with dijon, or cheese sauce and demi-glace (a favorite version at a local gastropub). I'd say skip it or make your own. If your friends can't handle the lack of a red substance on your french fries, try sriracha.

[Ditdah]

I'm thinking based on the responses that I'm just going to continue to avoid it. I thought maybe it was one of thise things that tastes radically different if homemade or "gourmet." However, based on the responses, it's all going to be somewhat similar, albeit with some variation. I think I'll just keep eating my fries plain or dipped in something else, and leave my burgers as they are.

I appreciate everyone's input!

[freia]

I wouldn't give up yet. I know many home made ketchup recipes can be more like a tomato jam than the pureed sugary red stuff that is commercially sold.
I think you might find something on this site
http://www.ketchuprecipe.com/
You never know, something might pique your interest?
:)

[paulj]

article about upscale ketchup
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/10/dining/building-respect-for-ketchup.html?pagewanted=all

One brand they mention, Sir kensigntons
http://sirkensingtons.com/thedifferen...
has few calories and less sugar than the national brand (15cal, 2g).

[paulj]

While shopping I glanced at a couple ketchup bottles. Both Del Monte and Trader Joes listed 15cal, 2g sugar. Del Monte had hfcs and corn syrup, TJ just sugar. I've had TJs in the past, but don't recall it tasting all that different from the major brands.

[wyogal]

Doesn't anyone call it catsup? I do, especially at fast food joints, just to confuse 'em.

[ospreycove]

Find a ketchup made with sugar vs. HFCS many brands are less sweet when HFCS is not used.

[wyogal]

?? are you replying to me or the OP?

[paulj]

When you say 'less sweet', do mean by taste or by sugar grams on the label? Do you have specific brands in mind?

Heinz gives the same 4g sugar count, 20 cal, regardless of whether it regular or 'simply'.

[ospreycove]

Paulj.....Try "Brooks" ketchup, hard to find in stores, available on internet; it is called Brooks Rich and Tangy Ketchup.

[paulj]

I can't find nutritional label for this brand. There are a few distributors, and a 'worlds largest ketchup botttle' festival in the town where the brand formerly was made.

Since they use the 'tangy' descriptor, it is likely that it isn't a sweet as more common brands, though that has more to do with their history and market nitch than a sugar v hfcs choice.

But does the 'tangy' refer to acidity (from tomatoes or vinegar), or chile pepper heat? Apparently an early name was ' "Brooks Tabasco Flavor Catsup,"

[wyogal]

I still don't know why these are all under my comment about "catsup." I didn't say anything about sugar.

[paulj]

ospreycove took your tangent off onto another tangent.

'catsup' is preserved in the name of the festival celebrating the Brooks history, with a tower in Illinois billed as the worlds largest catsup bottle.

[wyogal]

I think he meant to reply to the OP.
I just like the sound of "catsup."

[ospreycove]

The word “ketchup” comes from the Chinese “ke-tsiap”, which simply means 'sauce. It seems those guys get credit for a lot of our foods. Ketsiap has been around in China since the 1690s. At that time there were no tomatoes in the condiment. Ketchup originally was a fish sauce consisting of anchovies, walnuts, mushrooms and kidney beans. From Asia, the condiment “Catsup” found its way to England in the 17th century, perhaps with sailors traveling from Indonesia. The British used Catsup to pickle anchovies and oysters. This spelling later fellout of favor, evolving into the present day ketchup.

[paulj]

Even moderately recent cookbooks like the 1960s Joy of Cooking have recipes for savory condiments called catsup, including ones based on mushrooms.

And in Indonesia, 'kecap' is a general term of soy sauce based condiments. I have a bottle of 'kecap manis', which is soysauce heavily sweetened with palm sugar molasses.

[wyogal]

http://www.armadillopeppers.com/Ketch... (In case anyone wanted a source cited)

[KarenDW]

My current favorite ketchup is homemade apricot. Any soft fruit can be turned into ketchup, with whatever seasonings you prefer (cloves, garlic, ginger, onions, allspice, mustard and lemon seem to be common elements). Most supermarket ketchup is too sweet and too salty for me. Except for ketjap manis.

[greygarious]

There was a long New Yorker piece about the abysmal failure of attempts to market gourmet and other alternative ketchups. It is included in the New Yorker food writing anthology, Secret Ingredients (a great read). Heinz is Goliath and he stomps the would-be Davids. Interestingly, I believe it was the America's Test Kitchen people who put Hunt's at the top in a blind taste test.
I tried it and agree. Though I have a sweet tooth, I find Heinz, and to a lesser extent Hunt's, too sweet - same for the store brands. I recall trying Del Monte once and not liking it - it was definitely not sweet but didn't make it as ketchup, for me. A place in Nashua, NH, prides itself on homemade ketchup but that tastes like the thick tomatoey chili sauce on the supermarket shelves right next to the ketchups. I tried making my own once, I think from the CHOW recipe.
Tasted more like pasta sauce than ketchup. I intend to try again.

You probably know that ketchup was not originally made from tomatoes. The word means "sauce". It started out made in various forms, including mushroom and grape. Once tomatoes became a popular, cheap crop, ketchup makers adopted it.

[tastesgoodwhatisit]

I found that article interesting, because when I tried making home-made ketchup I vastly preferred what I produced to any commercial ketchup I've ever had - richer, tangier, fuller taste, a bit less sweet, and much more satisfying.

I wonder if the taste test is more a matter of familiarity. I'm not a huge ketchup fan in the first place - I use it on scrambled eggs sometimes, on spicy fries (regular fries get vinegar or gravy), and hot-dogs and hamburgers, but it's not a regular condiment for me.

[GH1618]

There is no need for ketchup, in my opinion, particularly after experiencing pomme frites with fresh mayonnaise. But fries are even better plain than with ketchup, I think.

[jmnewel]

I don't like Heinz, either, but I do like Del Monte in small amounts (but isn't that the only way one eats ketchup?). Even if you try all the brands and still don't like ketchup, that's perfectly okay. You don't like it, so you are not missing out on anything!