Ketchup is arguably the most popular sauce in the world, favored by millions of people everyday for hot dog or pizza. This product is so widespread that almost all eateries offer it without a problem, in most cases even for free.
A favorite for people of all ages, ketchup is tomato sauce, which is prepared on the basis of tomato paste, vinegar, starch, then flavored with salt, sugar and various spices. In some cases, ketchup has add peppers, onions and [garlic .
The history of ketchup began sometime in the 17th century in England, but its homeland is China. 3-4 centuries ago in Britain, eteries began to deliver items with an interesting Asian sauce whose main ingredients were anchovies, nuts and mushrooms, and no hint of tomato.
The Asian sauce was named the koechiap and ke-tsiap. The rough translation of the ancient Chinese name means "pickled fish" or "brine of salted fish or mollusks".
British sailors are those who first added the tomatoes to the ancient Asian fish sauce. It was sometime in the 19th century and since then the name catchup or ketchup arose.
Perhaps because of its unique taste and versatility ketchup gained popularity rapidly and soon spread throughout Europe. The Asian variant of the original recipe has remained to this day. The sauce is made from mushrooms and olives, but is extremely rare.
The industrialization of ketchup happens in 1876, when the sauce first appeared in shops. The enterprising and resourceful manufacturer and trader Henry Heinz was responsible for this. After Britain, ketchup became famous in the United States. Ketchup began to sell across Europe after the Second World War.
To this day, ketchup is everywhere. One of the latest innovations in the industry is offering it in small sauce packets for fast food. Since 2000 the pioneer in the production of ketchup introduced another marketing gimmick to increase sales of ketchup.
On the appeared market tomato sauces in different colors - green, blue, purple, pink, orange and others. The coloring is obtained by adding natural or artificial colorings.
Composition of ketchup
Modern recipe ketchup has tomato sauce, vinegar, sugar, salt, onion, garlic and spices such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, pepper, ginger, chili or cayenne pepper.
Because tomatoes are the prevalent ingredient in ketchup, it is very rich in active biochemical components. Chief among them is occupied lycopene - a powerful antioxidant, which is due to the red color of tomatoes that fights free radicals, keeping the youth of our body cells.
Of the market, you can find different kinds of ketchup at a cheap price, whose content is not entirely natural, but has the addition of additives and preservatives. For example, an average ketchup bottle contains: 38% tomato juice, tomato paste 27%, sugar 16%, water 11%, salt, citric acid, modified starch, preservative - potassium sorbate and / or sodium benzoate and various spices.
In 100 g of ketchup contains:
90 to 100 kcal
1.74 g Protein
25.15 g carbohydrate
0.31 g fat
16709 mg lycopene
Selection and storage of ketchup
Walking around the stands with sauces in the stores you will find a huge variety of ketchup - different brands with different flavors and, of course, different prices. The rule is this - the less expensive it is, the less natural ingredients in it.
It is advisable to choose the more expensive varieties and brands that will ensure a better taste. Read the contents and observe the expiry date shown on the packaging. When you open the can of ketchup, you must store it in the refrigerator.
Culinary uses of ketchup
The use of ketchup in cooking is practically endless, except of course confectionery. As a rule, ketchup is a spice and a sauce for other dishes. It is a very good combination with other ingredients in various dressings, sauces and marinades for meats and vegetables. This flavors your meat with greater efficiency, because of the presence of acid and sugar in it. Sandwiches, hamburgers and hot dogs are the best friends of ketchup.
The taste of tomato sauce is a perfect addition to a raw or cooked smoked sausage, such as salami, sausages, sausage. Ketchup complements the taste of all kinds of meats - grilled or oven cooked red and white meats, but is also a favorite of lovers of with pizza, pasta, some salads, etc.
Benefits of ketchup
Natural ketchup, which is made only from natural ingredients, can be considered a complete food, which brings the benefits of each product, which enters into its composition. Because of the active substances in tomatoes, especially lycopene, which increases the thermal treatment of tomato, ketchup could be a good helper to lower bad cholesterol in the body for daily consumption in moderation.
Powerful antioxidants destroy dangerous for the cardiovascular type of cholesterol. This in turn contributes to the normal functioning of the heart, for which there is evidence from special research volunteers.
If ketchup has added chili peppers or cayenne pepper, this means that it contains capsaicin. That, in turn, has many proven positive actions on our health - acts as an anesthetic to stop inflammation in the body and is able to fight off colds and flu. Chillies are also a powerful antioxidant which has beta-carotene, which is an enemy of harmful free radicals.
Damage from ketchup
As hinted above, the content of ketchup is most important for you to decide whether it is useful if not, ensuring it’s not junk food. Note that not all ketchups are useful because of the presence of various additives, colorings, preservatives and stabilizers in them. Some types of ketchup do not even contain tomatoes, but rather starch, water, flavoring and coloring agents.
