Tomato ketchup is a fantastic condiment. I’m yet to taste a ketchup brand superior to Heinz. One day I intend to try making my own for comparison purposes. In the weekend fog of my brain yesterday I think I read a Heston Blumenthal recipe for tomato ketchup in the Sunday Times… perhaps that would be the one to try.However, I would like to pose a question:
Should ketchup be squeezed over one’s food or served on the side?
As you will see in my mushrooms on toast image below, I prefer to squeeze a small amount of ketchup on the side of my plate and dip or use my knife to accessorize my mouthful with exactly the right amount of ketchup – too much destroys the flavour of the other food, and too little is pointless. Ketchup enhances, but it shouldn’t take over. So, with a bowl of chips I believe it is necessary to have a receptacle available to pour ketchup into as I abhor it smeared all over the chips – some have too much, some too little. If I have to pour it in the side of the bowl there will almost certainly be a few chips too ketchup-soaked to enjoy. On the side of a plate, or in a dish, it is entirely under my control how much ketchup I would like for each bite.
However, on a burger I would make a spiral of ketchup on the inside of the bun, as dipping often causes the extra toppings to fall out, and with a hot dog I would squeeze a line of ketchup down the hotdog, preferably so it doesn’t squidge out everywhere. If squeezy bottles are not available, I will find something to dip it into.
Ketchup is, of course, a condiment rather than an integral part of the meal. Does everyone agree? Or am I unusual in my ketchup tastes?
2 comments:
Yes, Heinz is the best. Other brands just don't cut the mustard. But I would advocate a healthy lattice of ketchup in a cluster bomb formation over the plate.
Imagine if people sprinkled salt and pepper in dainty piles on the edge of their plate, and then dipped their food in it. Surely that would be ridiculous? Likewise with ketchup.
Hmmmm, a dipping action into salt or pepper would result in far too much salt or pepper on one mouthful, but a dipping action into ketchup results in just the right amount. If you want more, you smother more ketchup on the food on each dip. I think the key difference is that salt and pepper act as flavour enhancers and so are ideal scattered across a dish, but if you lattice your ketchup in a cluster bomb formation I believe the ketchup would completely mask the other flavours. Sorry, Mediawasp, I think I disagree.
But thanks for joining the debate with such a radical suggestion.
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