why is tomato sauce called ketchup? Where does the word ketchup come from?

Answer 1

For years the debate raged on...is that smooth tomatoey condiment properly spelled Ketchup or Catsup? Some would say...does it matter? And of course the answer is Yes. Although the current trend among manufacturers seems to be to use the spelling "Ketchup", "Catsup" lovers refuse to give in. Why? It’s a subject of interest to all that I would like to delve into. Let's start with where it all began...
Ke-tsiap or Kecap was a spicy pickled-fish condiment popular in 17th-century China and is said to be the origin of the name "ketchup." British seamen brought the ke-tsiap home, then introducing it to other nations. Catsup without tomatoes is almost unimaginable these days But it wasn't until the late 1700s that canny New Englanders added tomatoes to the blend and it became what we know today as ketchup. Even a century ago, catsup cooks were still only dabbling with tomato-based recipes, while also trying a surprising array of vegetables and fruits such as plums, walnuts, mangoes or mushrooms that were being turned into a condiment and called Ketchup. Not so talented cooks were also trying, shaved tree bark, pig parts, or dust-based catsups. None were successful among the masses...even with heavy onion and garlic added.
But how, you may say, can this be? One minute you have a fish sauce, and then suddenly you have tomato ketchup? When did we take the fork down the "tomato" catsup road? Perhaps it was in 1876 when Heinz produced their Ketchup with tomato and it made its way into the American kitchen. Then as more manufacturers entered the marketplace, so came more variations of the spelling. And so the controversy began. Soon there were Ketchups, Catsups, Catchups, Katsups, Catsips, Cotsups, Kotchups, Kitsips, Catsoups, Katshoups, Katsocks, Cackchops, Cornchops, Cotpocks, Kotpocks, Kutpucks, Kutchpucks and of course Cutchpucks. All were tomato based and bottled. All vied for the becoming the household word. But as these small locally produced and often homemade varieties went by the wayside and America entered the 1950's, it appeared as if only 3 major brands remained to steal the spotlight...Heinz Ketchup, Del Monte Catsup, and Hunts, who could not decide on a spelling and bottled under the names Hunts Catsup (east of the Mississippi), Hunts Ketchup (west of the Mississippi), and Hunts Tomato Cornchops (in Iowa only).
Now it was a matter of advertising dollars and a cunning advertising strategy as to which spelling would win out. But there were more failures than successes. Del Monte’s jingle “Even Cats like our Catsup!” drew a lawsuit from one customer who overfed it to her cat causing it to have stomach problems and hair with an unnatural red-orange glow. It ended after weeks of litigation with a million-dollar settlement and two years of free hairdying for the cat. Heinz trying to play up their spelling and new plastic bottle was ridiculed by English teachers everywhere for their promotion “You don’t need to ‘ketch’ it when it drops!”, forcing Heinz to make huge donations to the “Erase Illiteracy in America” program. In the end, no matter how hard they tried to set the name standard, the people remained divided. By the 1980's Americans had factioned into two groups, the Ketchupers and the Catsupers. (The Cornchoppers remained a subgroup of the Ketchupers for several decades until Hunts finally dropped the name when their mascot, Cornchoppy, who they sent around to promote the product, overindulged on cider at the State Fair and goosed the governor's wife during the apple pie judging, bringing disastrous press.)
Now the final battle began. In an attempt to raise their visibility, the Catsupers declared a slogan, "Its "Cat" not "Ket" so let's spell it that way! It’s simple to spell..Its simple to say!” which prompted the ketchupers to counter with "Catsup Schmatsup." Unfortunately the Catsupers were losing ground. No matter how hard they fought for ease of spelling, marketshare was going to the Ketchupers. The final straw came in the 1980's when Ketchup was declared a vegetable on the government's standards for school lunch menus. Suddenly Del Monte's Catsup, because of its spelling, was not on the approved list. Heartbroken Catsupers could see the end in sight. It wasn't long afterwards that Del Monte changed the product's name to Del Monte Ketchup. True Catsupers remain hopeful though. Catsuper President Vance Carson comments, "We're trying to get the government to add Catsup to its list of vegetables, too. But then the Mustard people heard this and they got all riled up and started a lobby, too. Then the Worcestershire Sauce people and the Mayonnaise people and the Salad Dressing people followed. All these other groups trying to be listed as vegetables suddenly boondoggled the entire campaign. And the name change is only Phase 1, too. Phase 2 will be reconvincing a manufacturer to use the name Catsup. Yea its a long battle...I don't know...sometimes I just don't know..." Ketchuper President Lyle Kent responds by throwing up his arms, "Its like they just can't let it go can they? Pack of sore losers."
So the controversy goes on.

Answer 2

Ketchup is a Chinese word in origin. In the Amoy dialect of southeastern China, koechiap means 'brine of fish.' It was acquired by English, probably via Malay kichap, toward the end of the 17th century, when it was usually spelled catchup (the New Dictionary of the Canting Crew 1690 defines it as 'a high East-India Sauce'). Shortly afterward the spelling catsup came into vogue (Jonathan Swift is the first on record as using it, in 1730), and it remains the main form in American English. But in Britain ketchup has gradually established itself since the early 18th century.

Cheers!! Jeff

Answer 3

Tomato sauce is different from ketchup. Ketchup has more proccessing done to it to get the flavour that it has. Some people sub, ketchup for tomato sauce when in a bind in a recipe, but you cant really sub the other way around.

Answer 4

Ketchup is a Chinese word in origin. In the Amoy dialect of southeastern China, koechiap means 'brine of fish.' It was acquired by English, probably via Malay kichap, toward the end of the 17th century, when it was usually spelled catchup (the New Dictionary of the Canting Crew 1690 defines it as 'a high East-India Sauce'). Shortly afterward the spelling catsup came into vogue (Jonathan Swift is the first on record as using it, in 1730), and it remains the main form in American English. But in Britain ketchup has gradually established itself since the early 18th century.

Answer 5

There are several theories on the origin of the word "ketchup". Some claim the word may originate from the Cantonese dialect (Chinese) phrase ke-tsiap ( 茄汁 ) which literally means eggplant sauce. The Cantonese phrase for tomato is fan-ke ( 番茄 ), which means "foreign eggplant". The Oxford English Dictionary states that in the Chinese Amoy dialect, "kôechiap" or "kê-tsiap" signifies "brine of pickled fish or shell-fish" (Douglas Chinese Dict. 46/1, 242/1). The word may also have come from the Malay kchap (in Dutch spellling "ketjap"), a fish sauce that does not contain tomatoes. The Malay word means taste.

Answer 6

Ketchup is not just tomato sauce, it has brown sugar and other spices in it. Originally it was called catsup, I don't know how it got changed. It's originally from China and the word is similar kechap (with an accent over the e). It has changed since the Chinese introduced it.

Answer 7

Tomato Sauce and Ketchup are two different things. Ketchup is thicker than tomato sauce.

Answer 8

One popular theory the word ketchup is derived from koechiap or ke-tsiap which is from the Amoy dialect of China.

Around the late seventieth century the name and sample arrived in England in print as catchup and then finally ketchup.

Answer 9

Tomato sauce is not the same thing as ketchup.

Whether you call ketchup 'ketchup' or 'catsup' doesn't matter.

Answer 10

Both are good for you, each fruit/vegetable has different vitamins. And so as more variety, as better. Vegetables have generally less sugar than fruits.