Capitol Hill Blue Forums Misc. Topics Food, Drink and Cooking That Red Stuff on My Burger

The word ketchup comes from the Chinese word “kôe-chiap” or “ke-tsiap,” meaning “brine of pickled fish or shellfish.” The original Chinese type of ketchup tasted more like soy or Worcestershire sauce, and did, of course, contain fish brine, plus herbs and spices. There were no tomatoes involved. The early recipe “traveled,” as good recipes do, to Malaysia and Indonesia. 17th century English sailors encountered the sauce in their journeys, and took the sauce and recipe concept home to England. (Another theory states that British explorers first discovered the condiment in Southeast Asia.) At any rate, instructions for making ketchups then spread to other parts of the Western world. The sauce was first mentioned in print in the English language in 1690. In 1748 in the Housekeeper's Pocketbook, Mrs. Harrison recommended that the homemaker never be without it.