Ketchup

Ketchup is a table condiment. The unmodified term ("ketchup") now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although original recipes used egg whites, mushrooms, oysters, grapes, mussels, or walnuts, among other ingredients.Tomato ketchup is a sweet and tangy condiment made from tomatoes, sugar, and vinegar, with seasonings and spices. The spices and flavors vary, but commonly include onions, allspice, coriander, cloves, cumin, garlic, and mustard, and sometimes include celery, cinnamon, or ginger. The market leader in the United States (60% market share) and the United Kingdom (82%) is Heinz Tomato Ketchup. Tomato ketchup is most often used as a condiment to dishes that are usually served hot and may be fried or greasy: french fries and other potatoes, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken tenders, tater tots, hot sandwiches, meat pies, cooked eggs, and grilled or fried meat. Ketchup is sometimes used as the basis for, or as one ingredient in, other sauces and dressings, and the flavor may be replicated as an additive flavoring for snacks, such as potato chips. == History == === Mushroom ketchup === In the United Kingdom, preparations of ketchup were historically and originally prepared with mushrooms as a primary ingredient, rather than tomatoes. Ketchup recipes began to appear in British and then American cookbooks in the 18th century. In a 1742 London cookbook, the fish sauce had already taken on a very British flavor, with the addition of shallots and mushrooms. The mushrooms soon became the main ingredient and from 1750 to 1850 the word "ketchup" began to mean any number of thin dark sauces made of mushrooms or even walnuts.