Title: Ketchup or Catsup?
Headings: Ketchup or Catsup?
Ketchup or Catsup?
Content: Well, in certain regions of the world.) Today often disdained as low-brow, when it was first conceived, ketchup was revered for the flavor it added to foods. Initially a paste made from fermented fish guts, it was first recorded in 544 BC in Important Arts for the People’s Welfare; according to the legend, while in the course of pursuing his enemies, emperor Wu-ti came across a pit filled with fish entrails and covered with dirt from which “ a potent, delicious aroma ,” could not help but emanate. For some reason, they actually ate it, learned to love it and at first named it Chu I. ( Worcestershire Sauce also has a similar slightly stomach turning origin, only in this case is still made pretty much the same way it was in the beginning .) Eventually, Chu I evolved to kôe-chiap or kê-chiap. Over time kôechiap migrated and made its way to Indonesia where it became known as kecap. British sailors were trading there by the 1690s, and it is believed they developed a taste for, and began exporting, kecap from the East Indies during this time. Also in the 1690s, Brits began tinkering with the sauce’s name, and catchup, which, according to the OED, was a “ high East-India Sauce ” first appeared, while by 1711 others were using the spelling, ketchup. Nonetheless, it appears that both words were still describing a type of fish sauce . . .