What is ketchup? (Or catsup?)

What's in a name? That which we call a rose...

...By any other name would smell as sweet?

Ketchup (or Catsup)-(American English and Canadian English) or tomato sauce (Commonwealth English) is a sweet-and-sour condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, and an assortment of vegetable seasonings and spices such as onions, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, garlic, and celery.[1] Ketchup is often used with chips (French fries), hamburgers, sandwiches and grilled or fried meat. Ketchup is also used as a base for various sauces. It is a typical accompaniment for the meat pies of Australia and New Zealand.

Etymology:
The etymology of the word ketchup is uncertain, with multiple competing theories.[10]

China theory
The China theory is that the word derives from one of two words from the Fujian region of coastal southern China: "kôe-chiap" (in the Xiamen accent) or "kê-chiap" (in theZhangzhou accent). Both of these words come from the Amoy dialect of China, where it meant the brine of pickled fish or shellfish.[11] The Chinese characters representing the word kôe-chiap are disputed, with two primary theories as to the word's original Chinese orthography. There are citations of "koe-chiap" in the Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of the Amoy (London; Trudner) from 1873, defined as "brine of pickled fish or shell-fish."

An alternative Chinese theory expounded in certain dictionaries[12] states that the word "ketchup" derives from a Chinese word composed of two characters (茄汁), which means "tomato sauce". The first character (茄), meaning "eggplant", is also the root for the word "tomato" (番茄 in Mandarin and Cantonese or 紅毛茄 in Taiwanese). Some have stated (without authority) that at the relevant time tomatoes were unknown in China; however, the first recorded mention of "tomato" in China is Zhao Han's (赵函) "Zhi Pin"("植品") (1617) which states that the tomato was introduced into China by missionaries in the late 16th century. The second character (汁) means "juice" or "sauce". Pronunciations of this word vary by region, but their similarities to the English "ketchup" can be noticed. However, this theory is generally discredited, since there are citations of "ketchup" from the 17th Century, 200 years before tomatoes were used in ketchup, at least in the West.

Malay theory
Ketchup may have[12][13] entered the English language from the Malay word kicap (pron. "kichap", also spelled kecap, ketjap), originally meaning "fish sauce",[12] which itself may be[12] a loan from Chinese terms above.
In Indonesian cuisine, which is very similar to Malay, the term kecap or ketjap refers to a soy sauce. Two main types are well known in their cuisine: ketjap asin (a salty soy sauce) and ketjap manis (a sweet soy sauce that is a mixture of soy sauce with brown sugar, molasses,garlic, ginger, anise, coriander and a bay leaf reduced over medium heat until rather syrupy).

European-Arabic theory American anthropologist E.N. Anderson claimed that ketchup is a cognate of the French escaveche, meaning "food in sauce".[10] The word also exists in Spanish and Portuguese forms as escabeche, "a sauce for pickling", which culinary historian Karen Hess traced back to Arabic iskebey, or "pickling with vinegar".[10] The term was anglicized to caveach, a word first attested in the late 17th century, at the same time as ketchup.[10]

Early uses in English The word entered the English language in England during the late 17th century, appearing in print as catchup (1690) and later as ketchup (1711).

I am sorry I asked. Why do I ask? You ask? Well, here we were at that most 'American' of events, a Super Bowl party, thanks to digital recording technology and to my new pal, Angelo Hill, an American ex-pat married to Michelle, his lovely Kiwi bride, we orphaned Americans were able to watch the game in all of its HD glory. We watched with several Kiwi families and guests. The Watts; Geoff, Michelle, Thomas and Toby; the Hills; Michelle, Corbin and Nico. And Matt (I forgot his last name). With Angelo, the Parks and the Taylors representing the Stars and Stripes. We watched, we ate, we tried to help the Kiwis understand the game they call 'gridiron' often making comparisons to their beloved rugby.

All was well until...no, not the half time show, not the missed calls by the refs but when the topic of ketchup arose...man oh man! And you thought wardrobe malfunction was bad? Here they have Watties tomato sauce (pronounced toe-mah-toe) and it is not good ole Heinz that is for sure. In fact I must say I am not a huge defender of the brand names, I usually think it is more about hype and image and the size of your marketing budget, but I must admit, I love Heinz and will only tolerate other ketchups back home. It is a good thing Watties says tomato sauce and not ketchup because it is not the same. Do not get me wrong, it is a nice condiment and has its place in the world and I can appreciate it for what it is (btw, Angelo cannot) but there is only one Heinz ketchup. Even my kids understand this, we went out to eat early in our time here and I thought they were going to have a break down when they dipped their fries into the stuff here! (btw it came out of a tomato shaped dispenser which should have been our first warning) When we went to the big grocery store in New Plymouth, the number one item requested by the kids was not candy or sugar cereal it was Heinz ketchup. Whew, thank goodness it was available there (it was not, at our local 4 square).

So since it was on my mind I came to realize the word ketchup or catsup (even weirder) really does not make any sense. So this is my public service announcement...enjoy.