Early Girl, Amana Orange, Black Brandywine, and Bulgarian Triumph are just some of the proud heirloom tomatoes waiting for their turn in the sun.
And now they have it: varietal ketchup.
In order to produce varietal ketchup, it is essential to understand the characteristics different tomatoes offer and how those characteristics should be expressed in varietal ketchup. This is the role of the Varietal Ketchupier: a bold entrepreneur who combines the esoteric skills of a vintner, the soul of a gambler and the spicing knack of a master chef.
You and I will be among the top cats up on the totem pole of your foodie friends. They will seethe with jealousy as we retreat to our wine cellar/ketchup vaults and debate (sotto voce), "A spunky Petite Sirah, the obvious wine choice for tonight's meal, but should we go with the rare "1998 Tiffin Mennonite" or the reliable, silky "2000 Soldaki" or just go crazy and break out the "1999 San Marzano"... decisions... decisions!"
Much as many restaurants have a "spicy dark" and a "yellow" mustard on every table, soon they will have standard old ketchup for the unenlightened and at least one other for us, the sauce savants. A classy joint will proffer a ketchup menu without being asked.-- DadManWalking, Dec 22 2003 Ketchup World http://www.ketchupworld.com/The world's largest purveyor of ketchup. [waugsqueke, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] partly there! http://www.reimerse...aspx?categoryID=724these guys are on the right track... just not fully baking it [DadManWalking, Jan 27 2005] If I had a million dollars, We wouldn't have to eat Kraft Dinner. (But we would eat Kraft Dinner. Of course we would, we'd just eat more. And buy really expensive ketchup with it. That's right, all the fanciest Dijon Ketchup. Mmmmmm.)
[some lyrics from the Barenaked Ladies song "If I had a million dollars"]-- oxen crossing, Dec 23 2003 Since your grandmother was clearly ahead of her time you should start an informal but vigorous audit of her practices and doings. Somewhere in her kitchen is yet another "next big thing." Consider it your birthright. You just have to figure out what it is (or maybe this is just the varietal ketchup talking...)-- DadManWalking, Dec 23 2003 And to think I thought sauce came in only two varieties - "red" or "brown"! I like the idea of recognising the varieties and having ketchup tastings and the like, but do I have to swill it around and spit it out into a pristine spittoon to seem connoisseurial?-- dobtabulous, Dec 23 2003 <aside> In the officers mess in the British Army, tomato ketchup is referred to as Sauce Rouge to give it an all-together more classy image.</aside>
'course, in my house, it's called tommy ketch!-- jonthegeologist, Dec 23 2003 ketchup is to fish what Posh is to Becks! Made for each other, you might say.
To choose the perfect ketchup, though, you need to consider not just the fish itself, but the batter, the chips — and even the additional flavourings such as salt and vinegar.
One approach is to choose a fresh, zingy light red sauce such as a Balham Bloomer to act like a squeeze of lemon with the food.
Or you can go for a soft, round, spicy type like Battersea Beauty to add a dimension of its own.
Clapham Yellow, a little fuller bodied than many pale sauces and satisfyingly rounded, goes beautifully, as does sparkling ketchup, the most luxurious option. I wouldn’t serve a brown sauce, though, as first choice; the onion extract in the sauce can give a hard taste in the mouth when partnering delicate fish.-- po, Dec 23 2003 excellent idea. +1-- po, Dec 23 2003 Can anyone say, authoritatively, that ketchup wasn't sold like this at one time; or did Heinz simply mix 57 varieties together, called it good and bottled it?-- phoenix, Dec 23 2003 Hey [po] are you cribbing from Ketchup Spectator? I seem to recognize the style...-- DadManWalking, Dec 23 2003 Problems with the tomato paste underground, UnaBubba? The ketchup black market perhaps?-- Letsbuildafort, Dec 23 2003 Aww, I'm sorry to hear that, UnaBubba. Shirley you've done a rigorous internal investigation?-- Letsbuildafort, Dec 23 2003 Welcome to the bakery, Dad. (WTAGIPBAN)-- krelnik, Dec 23 2003 Ahh - sweet, seductive and a smooth finish too - such a great vintage. Waiter, another bottle of the '63 and be quick about it - my chips (fries) are getting cold!-- dobtabulous, Dec 23 2003 [jutta] I, too, was surprised, I googled 'varietal ketchup' 'varietal catsup' 'heirloom ketchup' 'heirloom catsup'. I found some recipes (the best sounding included mustard, go figure) but no commercial products. If you help me score some of the red stuff then the Barney's Gourmet Burgers and the corkage fees are on me.
But in the big picture I want more than a single product, I want a shelf or two of the grocery store dedicated to varieties. We have 6 or so types of maple syrup and dozens of pasta shapes in even small grocery stores. This is just the kind of injustice that lead to the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.-- DadManWalking, Dec 23 2003 Looks like [Jutta] has found some good leads (and a destination for my next September culinary expedition to stock the ketchup vault.)
Let me know when you want your barney's 'k? piedmont, shattuck, college or solano?-- DadManWalking, Dec 26 2003 This seems recipe-ish to me, but whuddoo I know.
// Tomato sauce is a creeping, insidious evil. //
Harsh words from someone so culinarily open-minded. How odd that such an innocent foodstuff so vexes thee.-- waugsqueke, Dec 26 2003 its the Bubba, ignore him, till he comes up with a better recipe <drool>-- po, Dec 26 2003 [waugsqueke] //This seems recipe-ish to me, but whuddoo I know//
arrg. I'm new. This sounds like a gentle reprimand. But in the food area it seems like this should be ok (or oker). But I take the point. I'll watch it.
I looked at Ketchup World. Mostly seemed that the differences were not in the tomatoes but in the spices and other matter. Sounded yummy, but not like what I describe. Must return to shopping cart at Ketchup World...-- DadManWalking, Dec 26 2003 Update on baking this one...
I have a neighbor who is in the nursery business. Starts scads of tomatoes and then carts them off to the retailers as plants. This year she said she'd planted 90 varieties. Oy! it is early in the planting season but we are consulting on which would be most interesting. Spicing is an issue... humanbean? you still about? got any of your grandmother's recipes?
I'm puttin off building the cellar for a bit.-- DadManWalking, Feb 12 2004 If you can get your hands on the UglyRipe tomato grown in limited quantity in Florida I think you'll find it the best tasting tomato you've ever had. I know that there is some ongoing dispute between the UglyRipe growers and some Tomato Commission that is preventing most of the crop from being shipped outside of Florida right now so they might be hard to get.-- bristolz, Jan 27 2005 Got a link on the "Ugly tomato grown in limited quantity in Florida?" They sound like they need a marketing deparment overhaul. Is that really what they call it?-- DadManWalking, Jan 27 2005 did some digging: Procacci’s Ugly- Ripe Tomatos they are called. Not really all that ugly but I take back what I said about the marketing. It is a perfect name and reminds the user that the taste is more important.-- DadManWalking, Jan 27 2005 random, halfbakery