Ketchup

[Paul Frank]

Ketchup, that all-American sauce, is not quite as American as many Americans
suppose. To begin with, the word ketchup is of Fujianese or Malay origin.
Thousands of Indian, Malay, Filipino, and Chinese recipes call for ketchup.
I once went to an excellent Indian restaurant that served ketchup with just
about everything. In southern India, I forget where exactly, there's an
entire ketchup-based cuisine. In Spain, as in India, omelets are often eaten
with ketchup. If ketchup is American tomatoes are vegetables. (Didn't the
Supremes rule that tomatoes _are_ vegetables?)

Paul
--
Paul Frank
English translation from German, French,
Chinese, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese
Business, law, and the social sciences
mailto:paulfrank at post.harvard.edu
or mailto:paulfrank at wanadoo.fr