TOMATOES MAKE KETCHUP; KETCHUP IS AMERICA'S FAVORITE CONDIMENT AND CAN BE FOUND IN 97 PERCENT OF KITCHENS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. BUT YOU MAY BE SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT THIS UBIQUITOUS ACCOMPANIMENT TO FRENCH FRIES WASN'T BORN IN THE U.S., NOR DID IT CONTAIN ANY TOMATOES. INSTEAD, KETCHUP HAS ITS ORIGINS IN CHINA AND BEGAN AS A PICKLED FISH SAUCE. AFTER A FEW HUNDRED YEARS AND SEVERAL DIFFERENT VERSIONS, THE KETCHUP WE KNOW AND LOVE TODAY WAS CREATED. THE WORD KETCHUP IS DERIVED FROM THE CHINESE WORD KETCHUP, MEANING A PICKLED FISH SAUCE, THIS MIXTURE WAS MAINLY ADDED TO RECIPES TO SEASON A DISH, VERSUS SERVED AS A CONDIMENT. IT IS BELIEVED THAT THIS FISH SAUCE MADE ITS WAY FROM VIETNAM TO THE SOUTHEASTERN PART OF CHINA, WHERE IT BECAME A STANDARD FOOD ITEM. FROM THERE, IT TRAVELED TO MALAYSIA AND INDONESIA WHERE ITS NAME MORPHED INTO KECHAP AND KETJAP RESPECTIVELY. HERE, SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLISH SAILORS DISCOVERED THE DELIGHTS OF THIS CHINESE SEASONING AND BROUGHT IT WEST WHERE COOKS TRIED TO REPLICATE THE DARK SAUCE. AS THE CHINESE VERSION IS MORE AKIN TO A WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE, THE BRITISH USED INGREDIENTS SUCH AS ANCHOVIES OR OYSTERS, MUSHROOMS, AND WALNUTS TO RECREATE THOSE FLAVORS. IN TURN, KETCHUP CAME TO MEAN A CONDIMENT CONSISTING OF MUSHROOMS.
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