Ice cream, apple pie, and chocolate… Sugar is tasty, but it’s also claimed to be unhealthy. So, can you live without sugar?

September 19, 2022October 23, 2021 by Unfakely

Ice cream, apple pie, and chocolate… Sugar is tasty, but it’s also claimed to be unhealthy. So, can you live without sugar?

Can you live without sugar?

I suffer from diabetes. I have dysfunctional insulin production and have to balance the sugar intake with injected insulin. The body of a non-diabetic regulates this by itself, but I need to take injections.

The principle is the same though… The more sugar, the more insulin, injected or naturally produced. So, I started wondering, why all this fuss about it, about the sugar? Why not just throw it out altogether, the apple pies, and the ice cream… Why not completely stop eating sugar, and my blood sugar values would be under control…

And I wondered… Is it possible? Can you live without sugar?

Disclaimer: I am not a scientist, nor a medical expert. Before trying any radical diet, please consult your primary care provider

Sugar is the fuel for the human organism.

Sugar is a generic name for soluble, sweet carbohydrates. Any carb with only one or two sugar molecules will taste sweet and is called sugar. All carbohydrates, one, two, or more molecules, are our body’s main source of energy. We need them to move, think, and all the rest. Without carbs, we would still survive because of backup systems like ketosis, where fat is used for energy. But, in the long run, with no carbs, you will face health issues. More about that further ahead.

Sugar – A chemical definition.

So, can you live without sugar? Yes of course you can, if you’re Ok with sacrificing grandma’s brownies. But the real question should be, can you live completely without carbohydrates? That is, without any bread, potatoes, rice, beans, fruit, etc..

A very simplified way to explain the complex system of carbohydrates is this:

There are three monosaccharides, single-molecule carbohydrates. These are glucose, fructose, and galactose. These three contain the building blocks, and they are very sweet, especially glucose. If you put two of these molecules together, you get a disaccharide, e.g. normal table sugar (sucrose) which is one glucose molecule and one fructose molecule. Sucrose is produced from processing Sugarcanes or sugar beets and these disaccharides are still very sweet.

Combining more molecules you get oligosaccharides (roughly 3-10 monosaccharide molecules) and polysaccharides, which is starch (more than 10 monosaccharides ). These are not very sweet.

If you continue with even longer chains of monosaccharides, you arrive at cellulose. The cellulose chains are so long and robust that most animals can’t digest them. Only cows and other ruminants, and a few other species, have that capacity. We humans use it for paper and paper products.

So, all carbohydrates work in the same way, then?

Not really. And this is the heart of the matter. Our body can only absorb monosaccharides, so before any carbohydrate longer than one molecule can be of any use to us it has to be broken down. This process happens in the small intestine with the help of enzymes, and the longer the carb chain is, the more the intestine has to work, and the longer it takes.

That’s why diabetics are advised to eat more complex carbohydrates… Vegetables, whole wheat bread, and other stuff with lots of fiber in it. That is also one of the reasons why table sugar is regarded as not as healthy as whole grain. Complex carbohydrate helps control the blood sugar, and it makes the intestine exercise, which is another benefit.

Can you live without sugar?

Yes. Table sugar isn’t necessary, nor is it beneficial.

Can you live without carbohydrates, altogether?

Yes, you can. Because the human body’s gastrointestinal tract is a miracle of flexibility. After all, we are one of the very few species that have spread to every corner of this planet, excluding Antarctica. And we have done so partly because our digestion system is so incredibly adaptable… Which brings us to the Inuit and their very particular diet…

The Inuit and the high-protein diet.

There are certain places on our planet where things just do not grow. One such place is the vast, frozen land around the north pole – Greenland, and the northern parts of Siberia, Alaska, and Canada. The Inuit who live there, are forced, by the climate, to limit their intake of carbohydrates. Instead, their traditional diet consisted almost exclusively of the two other main parts of our food: protein and fat.

According to most diet experts, they should all be high on cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, and cancer. They should have extreme cholesterol levels, and no teeth left after 30, with a high protein diet like that.

But strangely, they seem to be just as healthy as anybody else even though they eat almost no carbs whatsoever. It’s a mystery and has been so for a long time…

The Inuit paradox

So, how can they be so healthy with an almost complete lack of carbs? And we’re back to the extreme capacity for adaptation within the human race.

Harold Draper, biochemist, and expert in Eskimo nutrition:

– There are no essential foods… Only essential nutrients. And humans can get those nutrients from diverse and eye-opening sources.

One big problem with the Inuit diet would be the lack of vital vitamins, present mostly in vegetables, and fruits. But researchers found vitamins in a lot of different animal food sources.

traditional Inuit food — Traditional Inuit Muktuk. Courtesy of cogdogblog.

D-vitamins that are produced by the sunlight, are also found in fatty fish.

A-vitamins are also plentiful in the oils of cold-water fishes and sea mammals.

Even vitamin C, typically found in citrus fruits, can be extracted from meat, fish, and internal organ, especially if it’s raw. The Inuit diet includes quite a lot of frozen raw meat. Muktuk, a traditional Inuit dish made of frozen whale skin and blubber, contains weight for weight as much vitamin C as orange juice.

Fat or sugar? What to choose?

Can you live without sugar for energy?… Fat and carbohydrates are the body’s main energy sources. Fat is for storage, and carbs are for immediate use. Both have their issues, but there’s nothing inherently worse with fat as an energy resource.

And the intuits still eat some carbohydrates. A minimal part of carbs come from the tubers, and berries they pick in summer. Another source is the glycogen present in meat, especially raw meat.

The fantastic evolution of the human body.

For many years, omega 3, a beneficial fatty acid, was considered the reason why the Inuit didn’t die from heart attacks at a greater range. Omega 3 is a known protector against cardiovascular diseases, and the Inuit population has very high levels of omega 3. Even though they eat a lot of protein and fats they are not subject to more heart problems than the rest of us.

But recent studies have discovered a gene, a mutation, found in the Inuit population. This mutation partly counteracts the effects of a diet high in marine mammal fat. Interestingly it is also in some way connected to height. Inuit, in fact, are statistically much shorter than their Canadian, Danish, and Russian peers. This would be another advantage in a cold climate.

Is a complete no-carb diet healthy? … Or even possible?

So, back to my diabetes. Would it be possible to throw all the carbohydrates out the window, and eat only fat and proteins? Can you live without sugar… completely?

It evidently is possible. The fantastic human body, perfected after billions of years of evolution, can take almost anything. It can adapt.

But… And this is maybe the crucial point, would it be good for me, even if I’m a diabetic?

What the scientists say.

There is a clear link between low-carb diets and increased health risks. Many studies have confirmed that. But much like the Inuit, you will have to increase fat and proteins, if you decrease carbohydrates. And there’s also a clear link between eating animal protein, especially red meat, and increased risk for cardiovascular diseases.

So, do you get sicker because you eat fewer carbs, or because you eat more steaks?

However, excluding carbs altogether doesn’t seem like a good idea, unless you’re of Inuit origin.

There is also a clear link between refined sugar and health risks. Maybe the choice shouldn’t be so much between simple and complex carbohydrates, as between refined and non-refined. The sugar in the apple pie is more damaging than the sugar in the apple.

Is a piece of apple pie really all that dangerous?

No, not really. If you eat one piece and stop there. Even a diabetic can eat one small piece of apple pie without any particular consequences. Sweets taste good, and as long as you don’t exaggerate, don’t be too hard on yourself.

There still are a few general propositions about healthy dieting I would like to make. Some basic rules for any diet, anywhere.

Surviving is different from living for many years. You can survive on whatever for a short period of time, but if the nutrition is incomplete, you risk your long-term health.
It is always preferable to mix. The more one-sided you eat, the greater the health risk. (So, it’s better to eat fat, protein, AND carbs.)
Unrefined food is preferable to refined
Seasonal food is preferable to food that is out of season and maybe imported.
You can go low on something, low protein, low fat, or low carb. But do not exclude anything. We are built to eat a little of everything. And we need all of it, at least to some degree.

Conclusion.

First, you can and should avoid refined sugar.

Secondly, living completely without or with a limited intake of carbohydrates is possible, that is, you will survive. But unless you are an Inuit or of Inuit origin, it’s unhealthy. And even if you are of Inuit blood, the modern lifestyle and the many easily accessible industrially made foods suggest that a no-carb diet could still be very harmful. Hey, even a low-carb diet should be used with caution.

We just don’t get around it. We need the carbs, at least some of them… Just like we need protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and all the rest. We are omnivorous.

… And maybe that includes a piece of the apple pie and a small brownie too.

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Yes, you can and should live without refined sugar. But to live for an extended period without any carbohydrates? That, I’d say, would be very risky.

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Surströmming – The stinkiest food on the planet.

February 24, 2023May 18, 2021 by Unfakely

What is Surströmming?

Surströmming, salted fermented Baltic herring… Is it the stinkiest food in the world?

yes or no?

What is surströmming?

Surströmming is a traditional dish, regarded as one of the smelliest and most disgusting foods in the world. You buy them in tin cans, and eat them cold.

Surströmming is made from small herrings from the Baltic sea, fished in May or June. After 48 hours in a high-salinity brine, they are cleaned and put in barrels in a lower salinity brine. At a temperature of about 15°C (60°F), they ferment in the barrels for 5-8 weeks. It is this process that gives it the characteristic smell. In late July or early August, they are canned and distribution starts on the third Thursday in August.

But why on earth would someone spoil food on purpose?

It is not as strange as it may seem. If you think about it… Functional refrigerators have been around for no more than a hundred years. Before that people had to use other methods to conserve food. And one very popular method was fermentation.

Fermentation doesn’t require any particular equipment or additives. It’s cheap and practical. Some of our most popular modern products originate from using fermentation as a method of conservation… Fermented milk such as Yogurt, Kefir, Ayran, etc, Pickles, all other kinds of fermented vegetables, Sauerkraut, etc, Indonesian Bagoong, Italian Bottarga, Egyptian Fesikh, and the dreaded Icelandic Hákarl, which isn’t a vegetable but a shark.

And, of course, beverages such as wine and beer…

People actually eat it, and they even enjoy it.

The surströmming is smelly, you can’t argue that. The fermentation process is completely natural. Enzymes already present in the spine of the fish (a process called autolysis) start the fermenting process. These enzymes together with bacteria produce among others, propionic acid, butyric acid, acetic acid, and hydrogen sulfide.

All these substances are each very smelly on their own, but put together they create a pungent odor, so penetrating and foul that it is impossible to even open a can in the vicinity of other people, who do not participate in the consumption. It smells like rotten eggs, or simply… Shit.

Fortunately, the actual taste of the fish is not anywhere near the putrefied odor. Once you have gotten rid of the can and rinsed the fish in freshwater, much of the smell disappears… Not all, but the whole thing becomes much more manageable. And the taste of the fish meat is very different from the first impression when you opened the lid. It is an interesting dish, particular, exotic, and in the right environment, enjoyable.

Surströmming is a very old Swedish traditional dish.

Yes, it’s a very old Swedish dish. Archaeological findings from 7000 BC in southern Sweden, suggest that fermentation already was a well-established method for food conservation. And the technique was known all over the world. The ancient Romans as well as the Greeks used fermentation to preserve food.

In Sweden, the commonly used method to preserve their basic food, the herring, was salting. But salting requires salt, and when Gustav Vasa, the first King of modern Sweden, started a decades-long campaign of warfare against practically all of Sweden’s neighbors at the beginning of 1500, the salt import came to a halt. Sweden had no domestic production of salt and that meant higher prices and less supply.

We don’t know if the farmers knew exactly what they were doing or not, but when they suddenly put much less salt on the herrings, the fermentation process began. And the surströmming was invented.

Surströmming today

The production is concentrated in the north of Sweden. And so is the eating of the smelly fish. It’s much more common in the northern parts of the country, where the big forests are with bears, wolves, and moose. The production was once concentrated in the area of Höga Kusten (The high coast… From the characteristic rocky coastline.), between Härnösand and Örnsköldsvik.

Here there used to be a lot of small, often family-owned companies, that produced the famous round tin cans. Especially on the island Ulvön, where every corner of the road used to have its own surströmming factory. The classical round tin can became the classic package around 1890.

Another reason why this part of Sweden became the center for surströmming production is the quality of the herring. The last part of the name -strömming indicates a smaller type of herring found in the Baltic sea. It is not only smaller than the Atlantic variant but less fat and, honestly, quite different in taste. The fat content is crucial when fermenting. And in the southern Baltic sea, the herring is too fat, while in the north it’s too lean. The perfect herring for fermentation is found right there, between Härnösand and Örnsköldsvik.

Eating surströmming the correct way.

Well, the natives eat it just like any other fish, without any distinct recipes or special tricks… But if you would want to try it, and succeed, you would need a little guidance. Here is the best advice from the experts:

Open the can far away from the table. Be prepared… The smell is overwhelming. You can even open the can inside a bucket of water, and flush the fish right there.
Rinse the fish filets in sparkling water. Store the empty cans safely in a closed space.

The accessories can vary quite a lot. There are some basic items that definitely should be served. Those are boiled potatoes (mandelpotatis, almond-shaped, small potatoes boiled unpeeled, if you have access to it.), onion (white or red is preferable), sour cream (gräddfil)(…or any other sour dairy product), and tunnbröd (flatbread).
The best way to enjoy the surströmming is to make a roll (klämma). Fill a flatbread with potatoes, onion, and sour cream. Add small pieces of surströmming, as a condiment rather than the main ingredient. Roll it up and eat it with your hands.
… And it should be accompanied by local beer, and snaps (vodka)

Watch this video on YouTube

There are loads of videos out there showing people doing the surströmming challenge. They sit indoors with a can, but without anything else. Then they open it and eat the herrings right out of the package dripping with the oozing marinade. The most enthusiastic surströmming-expert would never, ever come near a situation like that. It’s completely and utterly foolish.

Is it healthy to eat?

Fermented food in general has many beneficial properties and a few harmful effects. The good thing about it is mostly connected to probiotics — live microorganisms. Those are extremely important for digestion. And the bad is much the same… Some of the microorganisms could turn out harmful.

An additional hazard comes from the health of the seawater. High levels of PCB and dioxins have been found in fatty fish like salmon and herring from the Baltic sea. Although the levels are decreasing, it’s a very slow process. The European Union has issued a permanent exception for consuming herring and salmon from the Baltics, as the levels of PCB and dioxin currently are over the safe limit.

Eating it once or twice a year doesn’t have any implications, but if you open a can two or three times a week, it could be harmful, especially if you’re are pregnant, plan to have children, or simply very young.

Is surströmming rotten?

No, surströmming is not rotten. Rotting is an uncontrolled, natural process. Many different bacterias cause the decomposition of organic material. Putrescine, cadaverine, indole, and skatole are among those most frequently produced. These are not present in surströmming.

Fermentation, on the other hand, is accomplished under controlled circumstances. The precise salt level limits the process and allows only certain enzymes and bacteria to work. I.e. those that enhance the development of the aroma and the flavor, such as hydrogen sulfide.

So which is the stinkiest food in the world?

It is difficult to say. Salinity and spiciness can be measured in the laboratory, although not 100% objectively. The Smell is more difficult. The substances that stimulate our nose are many, not only one. And we are differently sensitive to all of them. The Guinness Book of records doesn’t have a record for smelliness, and there’s probably a reason for that.

Still, when I search for the most stinking and putrid foods in the world, surströmming always comes up, and more often than not in one of the top positions.

Other stinky foods include stinky tofu, fruits like Locust and Durian, and the Japanese Nattō. But there are many more. Many of these are restricted, you can’t take them on flights, they don’t serve them in restaurants, etc. I’ve eaten some of these myself, and some of them are frankly quite disgusting.

But comparing this to surströmming seems ridiculous. If you would ever open a can of fermented Baltic herring on an airplane, they would have to refurbish it completely. The stench would penetrate everything that isn’t steel or smooth plastic… And the smell of surströmming isn’t just strong… It smells rotten. So I would say the type of smell is more disturbing than many others.

The final verdict

Surströmming isn’t all that bad to eat. It’s the smell that hurts.
The smell is of a kind that is very disturbing to us humans, feces, rotten eggs, death, and decay.
Surströmming is exclusively served outside, and very far away from everybody else. It could never be served in a restaurant, not even outside.
The can is hermetically closed. Compared to more traditional packings like fruit, eggs in clay, or even plastic or paper boxes, the sealed can is odor-free. If it wasn’t, it could never be distributed.

Considering all this, I would consider it the winner. Surströmming is the stinkiest dish in the world. Obviously not counting things that are smellier but not digestible… Like food gone bad, or edibles not normally sold, distributed, and anyway reasonably healthy.

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Yes, it is. Surströmming is the smelliest dish in the world.

If you don’t agree, just open a can from last year… A can that was ready in August but was left for another entire year to amplify the fermentation and decay of the herring muscle tissues. A can containing something so putrefied that it’s become spherical, like a ball…

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Is Coffee an energy booster? And will it keep you awake if you drink it too late in the evening?

October 5, 2022May 14, 2020 by Unfakely

Is Coffee an energy booster? And will it keep you awake if you drink it too late in the evening?

yes or no?

What is Coffee?

The plant is called Coffea in Latin, of the family Rubiaceae. There are many plants in this family but only two are used to make coffee, Coffea arabica, also called Arabica and Coffea canephora, also called Robusta. Of these, the Arabica is more valuable and more cultivated, while Robusta is slightly higher in caffeine. The flavor changes in a variety of ways depending on where the plants are grown, when they are harvested, how they are transported, and how they are toasted once they arrive at the roastery, etc, etc.

The most exclusive grinds are pure Arabica, while most of the normal supermarket brands are blends. But If made the right way, a blend can be as good as a pure Arabica. It all comes down to knowledge in trading and roasting and the general quality of the beans. Making a good Coffee is as difficult and magical as processing and producing a first-class wine.

A short history of the magical beverage.

It probably originated from East Africa, Ethiopia, but the first documentation is in Arabic, from the other side of the Persian Gulf, from Yemen. Arabic scholars used it to prolong their nightly working hours. We know it existed in the 12th century, but the use of Coffee as a booster drug could be much older than so.

It was the Arabs who invented the roasted bean. A technique to get more caffeine and much more taste out of the grind. The traditional way to make the drink was to boil the grind together with water. And that is still today the way coffee is brewed in many Arabic countries.

The wonderful black beverage traveled from south to north, from west to east, and in the 16th century, it came to Europe. It was probably the Venetians who discovered it. They already had a very long tradition of trading with the orient and in mid-1500, the ambassador, Gianfrancesco Morosini in Constantinople wrote home to Venice and told them about the marvelous, black, liquid… Cahwah, or Kahve in Turkish.

The catholic church wasn’t all that enthusiastic. An Arabic, euphoric beverage, that on top of everything else was black… It had to be a Devil’s tool. Fortunately, Pope Clemente VIII loved coffee to an extent that he felt he had to save it.

“This Coffee made by the Devil is so good that we have to try to trick him… By baptizing it”. So it got baptized and people could continue to drink it without risking their eternal soul.

Further development

At first, it was considered a medicine, something to take occasionally at a very high price. But soon Caffès popped up in all the big European Metropolis, Paris, Naples, London, Prague, and Coffee became the highest fashion. By mid-1700 Venice alone had more than 200 coffee-shops.

In 1884, Angelo Moriondo invented the Espresso machine. Moriondo was a technically and mechanically capable man and he actually made all his own machinery himself. His Bar (interestingly called Bar Americano) in Turin, had lots of clients, and the typical Italian coffee drinking style, standing up and downing it swiftly, made him wonder if it could be made instantaneous in some way. The invention was a huge success. The Espresso has since become the essence of the Italian Coffee culture. Although it wasn’t thought of as a flavor- and taste reinforcer, but simply as a way to make the process of making coffee faster.

The filter coffee

In 1908 the paper filter was invented by a German housewife, Mrs. Melitta Benz. She formed a company and her name is forever linked to the technique of filtering the grind.

But it doesn’t end here. Coffee is served in millions of different ways around the globe. Hot and cold, sweet and bitter, boiled, filtered and pressurized. There is just no limit to how the black drug can be enjoyed by enthusiasts… The Turks drink their coffee in small cups. It’s boiled for quite some time and then poured together with the grounds. The Bedouins have rites and rules around coffee almost as complicated as the Japanese tea ceremony (Remember to never accept the fourth cup…). The Sami in Scandinavia even drink it with cheese… The so-called Coffee-cheese.

The documented effects on the human body.

There are many things inside a cup of coffee. In fact, a grain of coffee involves a complex mixture of chlorogenic acids, fatty acids, tocopherols, and triglycerides. And then there’s the water. The quality of the water has a dominant effect on the final cup. Why doesn’t a branded Espresso tastes the same in London as in Naples?

One reason is the water…

Coffee contains:

Theophylline, a mild stimulant, and muscle relaxant. Similar to caffeine.
2-Ethylphenol
3,5 Dicaffeoylquinic Acid which has a beneficial effect on free radicals.
Trigonelline a plant alkaloid with therapeutic potential for diabetes and central nervous system disease.

…And other more than 1000 compounds. Many of these have an effect on the human body, beneficial or noxious.

But let’s talk about the energy boost, and that’s mostly linked to Caffeine.

It stimulates the central nervous system and reduces fatigue.
Caffeine has an effect on learning and memory.
It improves reaction time and concentration.
Caffeine delays or even prevents sleep. It also improves performance and concentration in a lack of sleep.
Caffeine improves athletic performance. It also improves muscular strength and power.
It also increases the basal metabolic rate (BMI). You lose weight without workout.

It is an incredible boost to many of our capacities, intellectual as well as physical. The effects of physical performance put it on the doping list from 1984 until 2004. It was removed but is still under observation. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) says it’s proven to be an enhancer, but the health issues and the Violation of the Spirit of Sport aren’t obvious.

Some studies show that the impact of caffeine decreases with every cup you drink. Much like other drugs. And the effect is reversed when caffeine intake decreases. This means that to have the best intellectual and physical effect, you should take no coffee for a period. Then take a cup, wait an hour for the caffeine to have maximum effect, and after that run the marathon or have the exam.

Health issues.

And now to the bad news about Coffee.

It increases blood pressure, and unfiltered coffee has shown mild increases in cholesterol levels.
Of course, insomnia, restlessness, and other downsides with the energy boost you gain from drinking java.
Pregnant women, as well as those wanting to get pregnant, should limit the quantities of caffeine. Extreme intakes can lead to miscarriage, and lower levels could decrease the weight of the fetus. 200mg of caffeine a day, or one big mug is regarded as safe.
It affects the gastrointestinal system and gastric acid secretion. You could experience an upset abdomen, especially if you drink coffee on an empty stomach.
… And it can, although not commonly, make you sleepy…

What?

Caffeine blocks something called the adenosine receptors in your brain. Adenosine is a neurotransmitter that causes sleepiness, and if it can’t get through to the receivers, you don’t feel sleepy.

But your body continues to produce adenosine and when the effect of caffeine wears off, your whole system is full, and the receptors get access to all of it at once… Yep, you fall asleep.

That happens when you’re detoxing, but even directly after a cup it’s possible to feel sleepy.

In that case, it could depend on dehydration. Caffeine is diuretic at high doses, and dehydration is a known fatigue factor. You will have to drink quite a lot to experience sleepiness from coffee though.

Conclusion

Coffee has a big impact on our physical and mental well-being. Many good things come from drinking it, and some bad.

The most noticeable effect, without a doubt, is the energy it provides. And with that comes insomnia. To maximize the beneficial outcome, you should stop drinking it for some time, and then start again. To minimize the negative effects, you should keep caffeine consumption under 400mg/day… 200mg/day if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding.

Just remember, there is caffeine in lots of products outside the coffee sphere.

Energy drinks can have more caffeine than coffee.
A 20oz Diet Pepsi bottle equals a normal coffee in caffeine.
Some energy bars are also rich in caffeine
Cocoa has caffeine naturally. That means normal chocolate is caffeine-rich. The darker the chocolate the more caffeine.
Even some morning cereals have caffeine in them.
Ever heard of Jolt Energy Gum? Two of those equals a cup of joe.

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Yes, Coffee can definitely boost your energy and it could keep you awake if you drink it too late in the evening… or it will put you to sleep.

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Ketchup – Is it a genuinely American contribution to World Cuisine?

October 5, 2022April 10, 2020 by Unfakely

Ketchup – Is it a genuinely American contribution to World Cuisine?

yes or no?

What is Ketchup?

Ketchup is a sweet Tomato-sauce. Normally sold in ready-to-use bottles in glass or plastics. It contains tomatoes, sweetener (sugar, corn syrup…), and vinegar. Then there are spices and seasonings added. Various brands and types can be very different from each other and new flavors and inventions happen all the time. Without venturing into new and strange types, it’s fair to say that the classical Ketchup has a perfect balance between sweet and bitter, between sweet tomato and vinegar.

Ketchup is normally used right out of the bottle as a condiment for hot, grilled, and fried dishes. Hamburgers, french fries, hot dogs, eggs, and all kinds of meat. But it’s also used as an ingredient f.ex. in salad dressing like Thousand Island and Russian-. Even top-class chefs use Ketchup to spice up some of their prize-winning dishes.

The Origin of Ketchup

The origin of Ketchup is actually very interesting and if somebody doubts the fact that it’s a genuine American product, this would be the reason. The etymology of the name is controversial. It comes from Asia/China and the most probable origin is the word 鮭汁 kôe-chiap or kêchiap in Hokkien-Chinese. It means Salmon juice, The idea was a sauce made from fermented fish, probably anchovies.

It’s a very old concept. During the centuries kôe-chiap slowly changed, and traveled. It went to Vietnam, Cambodia, to Canton and Fukien province, and even to Indonesia before it came back to China and eventually to England with traders. At this time the word had generalized into meaning just sauce… Something runny originating from East Asia. Around 1800, in England, the main ingredient was mushrooms or walnuts.

It even turned into a remedy

In the 1830s the Assistant President of the Mormon church, John Cook Bennett, started selling Ketchup-pills as medicine. After having introduced tomatoes to the sauce, he started manufacturing and promoting the pills as a cure for diarrhea, indigestion, and rheumatism. Even postural defects could be cured.

It wasn’t a success.

Anyway, by the beginning of 1800, the tomatoes had made their entrance and a few decades after that, the anchovies were dropped.

At this point, the original Ketchup from China had changed a lot while going from one part of the world to another. It came to England and from there to America, and the newly born nation, the United States of America.

In the USA Ketchup slowly started its triumphant march over the territory. Housewives and maidens all over the nation cooked and bottled the red gold. Slowly the amount of sugar and vinegar increased. In 1837 Jonas Yerkes sold the first industrially produced bottle.

Heinz, and the origin of the American ketchup

Henry John Heinz started his company in 1876, one year after he had gone bankrupt with his first food company – A horseradish canning firm. The Heinz trademark soon became synonymous with tomato sauce – Ketchup. The slogan “Blessed relief for Mother and the other women in the household“ indicates that much time in a normal American household was dedicated to the lengthy process of cooking tomato Ketchup.

In 1906 the use of sodium benzoate as a preservative in food was banned. This forced the industry to try to find other solutions to make Ketchup last. At the end of 1800, the refrigerator for home use was still an unknown concept.

The Heinz company (and others…) made two changes that were significant for making Ketchup the standard American condiment:

The amount of sugar was increased further, making the sauce sweeter. The amount of Vinegar was also increased, creating a counterweight to the sweetness.
Instead of using unripe tomatoes that are low on pectin, they started using ripe ones. Apart from being a preservative, the pectin in ripe tomatoes also created a more creamy consistency. Before the beginning of 1900, Ketchup was much more watery and thin.

The Heinz company actually still uses an invention called the Quantifier to measure the viscosity of the sauce. You simply let the Ketchup flow down a track, and measure how long it has traveled in ten seconds.

And now, around 1910, Ketchup was more or less the product we know today.

Watch this video on YouTube

So, can you really say it’s American?

The word “Ketchup” comes from the Chinese word kôe-chiap or kêchiap, but that’s as much Chinese as you could ever find in the red sauce. The transformation from the original fish condiment into the Ketchup we know today has been close to 100%. The Asian sauce has as much in common with modern Ketchup as a Sandwich with a tomato slice on top has with the Neapolitan Pizza. It’s a 100% American product… Or at least 99%…

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Conclusion

Yes, Ketchup is a genuinely American product, even though the name isn’t.

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