Take a look in your fridge or cupboard and the chances are you have a fine selection of condiments. Whether you put tomato ketchup on everything or prefer something a bit more luxurious, we all love a bit of something on the side.
Ketchup or brown sauce?
What would a full English breakfast be without the addition of brown sauce or ketchup? Along with mayonnaise, these familiar sauces are undoubtedly the nation’s favourites and are now seen as quintessentially British. kê-chiap, kechap, ketchup…
Did you know that ketchup is of Chinese heritage? The ketchup we know and love today is apparently related to a fish sauce that was used in China in the latter part of the 17th century. That sauce was called ‘kê-chiap’, and the sauce evolved as it travelled through Malaysia and Singapore (then Malay), where, by the early 18th century it had become known as ‘kĕchap’. The table sauce was discovered by British explorers in Malay who brought it back to Britain, where it evolved further and became known as ‘ketchup’.
The first known recipe for ketchup was published in ‘The Compleat Housewife’ in 1727 and called for shallots, anchovies, vinegar, white wine, lemon peel, pepper and sweet spices (nutmeg, mace, cloves and ginger). It is thought that tomatoes were first used to make ketchup at some time during the early 1800s. By 1876, the now-renowned U.S. food processing company H. J. Heinz had begun manufacturing their unique brand of tomato ketchup, and by the early 1900s they were exporting it all over the globe. According to recent research, collective sales of tomato sauce accounted for 57 per cent of all thick and thin sauce sales in the UK in 2011.
HP = Houses of Parliament Ketchup’s younger competitor, HP sauce (the best-known brown sauce), was not invented until 1899 when Frederick Gibson Garton, a grocer from Nottingham, developed the recipe and sold it to the Midlands Vinegar Company to settle an outstanding debt. HP stands for Houses of Parliament because it is thought that the sauce was served in the restaurant there in the early 20th century.
Although brown sauce is not known to have the same Asian origins as ketchup, the chances are it does – one of the key ingredients is tamarind, often used in Asian dishes to add sourness. HP Sauce is now owned by Heinz, which claims that 28 million bottles are sold each year – stacked on top of each other they would reach the same height as 6,189 Houses of Parliaments!
Below are recipes to make your own ketchup and brown sauce
HOMEMADE TOMATO KETCHUP (MAKES ABOUT 2 LITRES)
❤ 2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
❤ 2-3 large white onions, chopped
❤ 1 teaspoon or paprika
❤ 3 cloves
❤ Half a tsp of ground nutmeg
❤ 1 tsp celery salt
❤ 5 tablespoons of sunflower oil
❤ 2 kg of ripe tomatoes (you can used tinned if you like)
❤ 4 tablespoons of fructose
❤ 140ml red wine vinegar
❤ 200ml apple juice
❤ Salt and pepper
1 In a big, big pan, gently fry the onions, garlic, celery salt and spices in the oil- keep an eye on it to make sure the onions don’t go brown.
2 In order to skin the tomatoes, soak them in boiling water for about 5 minutes – they should then just come off fairly easily.
3 Cut them and quarter them and scrape out the seeds.
4 Go back to your pan of soft onions and spices and add the tomatoes, fructose and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and give a good stir on a low heat. Leave for about 2 hours so it all goes lovely and soft.
5 Blitz the mixture into a puree – it’s up to you how smooth you want it
6 As this makes quite a lot, you can freeze it in Tupperware or bottle it.
7 Delicious!
HOMEMADE BROWN SAUCE (MAKES ABOUT 1 LITRE)
❤ 600ml olive oil
❤ 500g onions finely chopped
❤ 150g celery finely chopped
❤ 1 blade of mace
❤ Half tsp ground cinnamon
❤ Half tsp cayenne pepper
❤ 1 tsp coriander seeds
❤ 1 tsp of salt
❤ 1 tin good chopped tomatoes (ones with flavour!)
❤ 130g pitted dates chopped into small pieces for sweetness
❤ 2 or 3 bay leaves
❤ 80g sugar or fructose (fructose preferable)
❤ 3 tablespoons tamarind paste
❤ 180ml malt vinegar to give it its sharpness
❤ 2 tablespoons of vegetable or groundnut oil.
1 Using a large pan with a good sturdy bottom, warm the olive oil and brown the onions and celery. This will take about 20 minutes.
2 Add the spices and salt and keep on the heat for another 5 minutes.
3 This will start to smell good! Then add the tomatoes, dates, bay leaves, sugar/fructose, vinegar and 200ml water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for about half an hour
4 Now is the time to taste to see if it needs more salt (or add more vinegar if you like).
5 Using a stick blender, blitz until smooth (or leave a little chunky if you prefer)
6 Add the groundnut oil.
7 This is a fairly thick sauce that is best spooned out, so we use jars instead of bottles. Decant into sterilised jars and allow to cool. Keep in the fridge once opened. This is a delicious sauce, which is pretty different from HP’s variety – but we love it.