Title: Everything You Never Knew About Ketchup and Mustard - Chowhound
Headings: The Ultimate Condiment Showdown: Ketchup vs. Mustard
The Ultimate Condiment Showdown: Ketchup vs. Mustard
History
Popularity
Influence
Fanaticism
Taste
Culture
Health
Versatility
Social Media
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Content: But it’s 2019 and in the spirit of winners, losers, and nothing in between we’re pitting ketchup (or ‘ catsup ,’ if you’re fancy) against mustard (or ‘moutarde,’ if you’re French), in the sauciest of summer showdowns. Game on! History
Ketchup, the self-proclaimed “king of condiments” is derived from a Hokkien Chinese word, kê-tsiap, that is traced back as far as the 17th century. Original versions would be virtually unrecognizable, comprised mainly of mushrooms along with flavoring agents like fermented fish, oysters, and even walnuts. It wasn’t until 1812 when tomatoes were introduced. Mixed with brandy, spices, and preservatives like sodium benzoate, ketchup’s popularity spiked in part for its (comparatively) long shelf life and as a means for preserving tomatoes. Pittsburgh ketchup-maker Henry Heinz reinvented the sauce in the early 1900s using pectin-rich ripe tomatoes and vinegar as natural preservatives (instead of increasingly unpopular chemicals) and ketchup began to enjoy a full-on frenzy. As Heinz perfected his sauce, complicated and unnecessary home recipes began to vanish from cookbooks and Heinz would come to dominate the condiment category. These days a bottle can be found in roughly 97 percent of American households and nearly every restaurant the world over. Vintage ad, Heinz Ketchup/Facebook
Mustard’s journey starts long before ketchup’s but ends in a somewhat similar place.