When you unscrew the cap of a ketchup bottle, the seductive smell of tomatoes and vinegar quickly rises to your nose. But beware – there are not only tomatoes in the red sauce, but also lots of sugar, flavor enhancers and often flavorings, thickeners and preservatives. Therefore, the question is justified whether ketchup is unhealthy or healthy.
Is ketchup healthy?
Ketchup consists of only about 70 percent tomatoes, which means that ketchup not only contains lots of tomatoes and thus the healthy pigment lycopene, but also a high proportion of sugar. For this reason, a good ketchup should have as low a sugar content as possible, since too much sugar damages the teeth and makes you fat. Depending on the variety, a single bottle of ketchup can contain up to 45 sugar cubes. This means that 100 grams of ketchup contain around 110 calories – quite a lot for a sauce. However, the consumption of ketchup is not the only problem: The greater concern is for foods eaten with ketchup, which taste all the better because of the flavor enhancers: French fries, currywurst, hamburgers and hot dogs.
Tomato as an ingredient in ketchup
Apart from sugar and flavorings, however, ketchup also contains healthy vegetables: according to regulations, it must contain at least 25 percent tomato paste. However, this only applies to tomato ketchup. Manufacturers have a free hand with other variants such as curry or spiced ketchup. Fruity tomatoes are not only versatile – they also taste delicious. Tomatoes have a high water content, which means few calories and also many vitamins and minerals. If you eat tomato products every day, you are doing something good for your health. The red pigment lycopene is primarily responsible, which, like the better-known beta-carotene, belongs to the group of carotenoids; it also gives tomatoes their intense red color. Lycopene develops pronounced antioxidant and cell-protective properties in the human organism. Lycopene strengthens the immune system, serves to increase the body’s defenses and also prevents, for example, cardiovascular diseases or cancer. Tomato paste and canned tomatoes, which are made from ripe tomatoes, often contain much more lycopene than fresh tomatoes. The reason: the lycopene is broken down by cooking and can thus be better absorbed by the body.
Origin and history of ketchup
According to the dictionary, ketchup – which has recently been called ketchup – is a spicy tomato sauce for seasoning, with Malaysian-English origins. In China, a dark, sweetened soy sauce called “ketsiap” was served with fish and poultry as early as 1690. The sauce made its way to Europe and America in the luggage of the merchant voyagers of the 18th and 19th centuries. However, the ketchup we use today bears no resemblance to it. It wasn’t until the tomato became native to North America that the ketchup we all know today was born: Tomatoes enhanced with spices. From the USA via England, ketchup spread throughout Europe and has also been available in Germany since the 1950s. The composition of the red sauce, which all children and also many adults love – after all, Germans consume more than three bottles of the spicy sauce per year – is subject to strict guidelines. Today, there are countless varieties of ketchup, from hot to spicy to sweet versions, everything is available.
Remove ketchup stains
Ketchup only makes itself unpopular when it adorns clothing or tablecloths as an ugly red stain. Ketchup stains are best removed when they are still fresh. Then simply wash them out under running water with a little bile soap, rubbing in vinegar if necessary. Dried ketchup stains are a lot more stubborn and can usually only be treated with glycerine or special stain remover.
Recipe to make ketchup yourself
The ketchup divides the spirits: ketchup is part of the fast-food cuisine, which many people reject for health reasons. Thus, some banish it completely from their kitchen, while for others it is a “must”. The truth lies – as always – in the middle. Because from the ripe, aromatic tomatoes can be made a little delicacy, provided with refined spices. The basic recipe for today’s ketchup was originally based on tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, salt, allspice and cloves. Onions, garlic, celery and other spices were also often used. Here is a ketchup recipe:
- Wash one kilogram of ripe tomatoes and cut into pieces.
- Together with 80 ml of white wine vinegar, a peeled onion, 2-3 cloves of garlic, 40 g of sugar, 2 cloves, nutmeg, pepper and salt put in a pot and “simmer” for an hour.
- Then strain the mixture through a sieve. Return to the pot and bring to a boil again.
- Immediately transfer to boiled jars with screw cap or glass bottles and seal tightly. Homemade ketchup is not as long-lasting as industrially produced, so it should be kept cool and consumed quickly.
