World Ketchup Forum!

Throughout the world, Heinz is synonymous with ketchup. They sell 650 million bottles of Heinz ketchup every year, approximately two single-serve packets of ketchup for every man, woman and child on the planet.

I agree “if it isn’t Heinz, it isn’t ketchup.”

But.....

Why then do they keep having to change the taste, depending on where you are. Macca’s seem to make a burger taste the same but the ketchup well it’s just different. The UK version has a nice balance of vinegar and here in Australia it is overpowered by tomato. (Incidentally the same applies to the sauce in the baked beans.)

In the 1600s Dutch and British seamen brought back a salty pickled fish sauce called 'ketsiap' from China. In this version, it was more related to soy or oyster sauce than the sweet, vinegary substance we call ketchup today. Variations in both the name and the ingredients quickly developed. British alternatives included mushrooms (the favorite), anchovies, oysters, and walnuts. In 1690 the word 'catchup' appeared in print in reference to this sauce, and in 1711 'ketchup'.

Now I appreciate with a global market and global tastes each country would have a unique twist to their ketchup so why don’t the brand it ‘Heinz UK Ketchup’ or ‘Heinz US Ketchup’ etc.

I for one have smuggled ketchup from the UK to one corner of the world to another, making for worried appearances in various customs halls for the fear of being singled out for my penchant for UK manufactured Heinz Ketchup.

There must be plenty of you out there with the same problem, the fear of being grabbed by the collar all for a bottle of ketchup.

And while I’m on it can you all check where your Ketchup comes from, if anyone can find the real deal from the UK somewhere near to me in Australia, I will have a palette – thanks!

Sadly not to do with international ingredients but here’s something about Heinz I found on the web...

Did you ever wonder why Heinz Ketchup bottle has a label that says "57 Varieties"?

Well, it turns out that while riding a train in New York City in 1896, Henry John Heinz noticed an ad for "21 styles of shoes." He thought that it was a clever way to advertise the great number of choices of canned and bottled foods that his company sold. Back then, the company already sold more than 60 items but Heinz put together "5" (his lucky number) and "7" (his wife's lucky number) to get "57 varieties".

That number must be really lucky, because H.J. Heinz Company grew to be a behemoth in the food industry. It currently sells more than 5,700 varieties in 200 countries and territories.

Oh, and by the way, Heinz' first product wasn't ketchup. It was bottled horseradish made from his mother's own recipe.

OK pal, hope you get to the bottom of this!

Geezer check this http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/fresh-ideas/dinner-food-facts/ketchup-taste-differently.htm/printable

anyone got a friend at Heinz?

Good to see some boys writing of one of the greatest products known to man. I should know. You can look me up. Top o' the morning to you.

I thought the taste difference had to do with the quality of the ingredients used.

Like how UK KitKat is WAAAAY better than any other in any part of the world

Typically with FMCG (fast moving consumer good) brands, it's the perception of what the local market will want or bear. For example Thailand (where I was in the FMCG game) McDonald's in fact contain more sugar as does Coke (if that's possible) to cater for the Thai's ultra sweet tooth. (Ever wondered why Thai food taste so good? Know you know. All that sugar! Also in Thailand a Dunhill Light or a Dunhill King Size has two or three times the tar yield of the same brand / variant in Britain. Thais like their tar (= taste).

In Australia milk chocolate such as a KitKat or Cadbury's Flake tastes completely different to British ones. Here the reason is to do with the heat. Australian chocolate has to contain more preservative to cope with shipping and as importantly living on the shelves in the Red Centre rather than the sceptred isle (with apologies to Shakespeare).

If that is you Sir Tony I will eat Aussie ketchup (God forbid)!

i agree its very frustrating...    i live in HK...    the ketchup  is different, the baked beans are gross and the chocolate (courtesy of your aussie preservatives) is just toilet...

....whats a man to do

in the philippines there ketchup is red etc etc  but is actually made from bananas

interesting your point about sugar alex...    personally i think sugar is a massive evil in todays society / obesity situation.    If one takes 3 months cutting out as much sugar as you can  you would be amazed at how much is actually out there!

Yes @ HK. Agree sugar is a scourge of today's society. You only have to see what it does to kids behaviour wise. As for us, the increasing advent of diabetes and obesity is a BIG problem. A friend of mine put some money into a fascinating film (yet to be released) Fat. Sick and Nearly Dead which I saw at a private screening the other day. It's basically about the needs for us adults to 'reboot' our systems from time-to-time. They advocate consuming JUST fruit and vegetable juice for 2 weeks - but cutting out sugar at least for me would be a good start! I know when I don't have any at night how much better I sleep.

As for Filipino ketchup being made from bananas. Never knew that. WOW!

I wonder how much our love of Heinz Tomato Ketchup is down to the iconic bottle shape?

.... even if more often now we buy it in plastic squeezable containers. They and Coca Cola. The love of retro ....

I must admit the plastic bottle safer for carrying in suitcases and easier for children to operate but... the old bottle is up there with a coke bottle in iconic status and more personally the trick to extract the last drop of ketchup is an art form long forgotten!

Now here's what the Times Online had to say on the matter....

The Foy (or inertia) method: Most people hit the bottom of the upturned bottle, which only ensures that the inertia of the sauce sends it in the opposite direction – relative to the bottle – to the one you want it to go. The sauce is pushed back into the bottle, rather than out of it. Instead, to get the last drop of ketchup out, hold the upturned bottle over your plate and hit the underside of the wrist of the hand holding the bottle with your other fist, jerking the bottle upwards. The inertia of the sauce will now eject it from the bottle.

The Wong (or centrifuge) method: First, put the lid on the bottle and grip it at its base. Then swing your arm as if you were throwing a ball overarm. This method, which uses the principle behind a centrifuge, forces the ketchup to the top of the bottle, allowing you to pour it out. (Whether you can use such a flamboyant technique in a posh chippy is open to question.)

The Lloyd-Evans (or thixotropic) method: Ketchup is gloopy because it is thixotropic. This means that, when it is at rest, it has a thick gelatinous consistency that can be altered to a runny consistency by the input of energy, typically by shaking. The thixotropy is provided by the starch used in ketchup. Starch molecules come in the form of long chains and, when starch powder is mixed with water and heated or subjected to enzyme treatment, weak links are formed between the long molecules. This is what happens when the ketchup is made at the factory and there is a physical change in the ketchup, creating a pasty, gelatinous matrix. These thickening and gelling abilities of starches such as corn flour, rice flour, potato flour and powdered arrowroot are used in sauces, gravies and soups. To get the ketchup out of the bottle, first ensure that the lid is on, unless you want to upset the person sitting directly opposite you, then give the bottle some vigorous but not over-athletic shaking. This will break some of those weak bonds between the starch molecules. Now turn the bottle upside down over your plate and watch the ketchup emerge in a slow, gentle stream.

The Bellis (or vibration) method: Rapidly hit the side of the bottle with the soft edge of your fist while holding the bottle at an appropriate angle. The vibration of the rapid thumping will break down the structure as above, allowing the ketchup to flow easily. This is the same principle used to settle concrete into moulds. In the case of concrete, however, a vibrating device is probed into the mix and the rapid vibrations shake the concrete, allowing it to spread downwards into the mould.

The Hann (or temperature) method: To get a nice even coating on your chips the best thing you can do is to warm up the ketchup. Provided you remove the metal cap, a burst of no more than 15 seconds in a microwave usually does the trick. Obviously, the amount of sauce in the bottle and how chilled it was will affect the success of this method, but heat is a guaranteed way of making the ketchup runnier as the bonds between layers of molecules become easier to break with shear stress and slide past each other more easily as the temperature increases. This property of viscous fluids – the phenomenon by which their viscosity tends to fall (or, alternatively, their fluidity increase) as their temperature increases – is known as the temperature dependency of liquid viscosity.

incidentally I go with the Foy method!

Guy's there's an English/Irish shop up in Bondi Junction that sells ketchup. I know it does Daddies sauce, you might enquire aboutr heinz as they probably don't realise it;s diufferent. I popped in for prawn cocktail crisps and cheesey quavers a while back.

Thanks pal but I think I've cracked it.... http://www.britishfooddirect.com  I am one hell of a happy camper! 

Check out this awesome spicy ketchup called Spicey Mike's! http://www.SpiceyMikes.com  It's absolutely delicious and packs quite a kick depending on the heat level you choose: MILD, HOT, or NUCLEAR!  There is so much much garlic you'll never get sick and it's awesome! You can order online, they make great presents and stocking stuffers, and check out our other products, like spicy BBQ sauce and pepper jellies!

Isys... I rather like a bit of heat... nothing like  Big Ricks 'Hot As' BBQ sauce on my ribs but doesnt do as a ketchup. BTW http://www.britishfooddirect.com no longer in existence as far as I can gather... been sending requests a while...

im turtles ketchup

http://www.ketchupworld.com is the best place to get ketchup guys.

check out my ketchup blog http://theketchupchronicles.wordpress.com