March 21, 2004

• Did you know...

  
  

  ...that everything comes from China?

  
  

  ladies and gentlemen, i present to you the origin of the word ketchup:

  
  

  

  
  

  "Ketchup, catchup or catsup are all versions of the same late-17th century culinary discovery, a form of savoury sauce, usually based on mushrooms or tomatoes, which began appearing in Europe thanks to trade with India and the East. The term is apparently based on the Chinese words koechiap or ke-tsiap, both of which mean, in Amoy dialect, the brine of pickled fish or shell-fish. A parallel Malay word, kechap, translated as ketjap by the Dutch and meaning the same thing, may also have come from the Chinese. According to a trader of 1711, the best ketchup came from Tonkin, and in the House-Keeper's Pocketbook, published in 1748, its author Mrs Harrison advises the sensible cook to lay in a Store of Spices,..neither ought you to be without..Kitchup, or Mushroom Juice.' Lord Byron and Charles Dickens were also fans, and by the end of the 19th century the condiment, especially in its tomato-based, mass-produced form, was a staple in Europe and America."

  
  

   

  
  

  | Download of the day: Cake - Daria |

  • 10:22 pm
  • 3 Comments