Ketchup

From Season 7: Meatloaf Dinner

Ketchup, a classic American condiment, began in Southeast Asia as a salty sauce made from anchovies. When British explorers first encountered Chinese ke-tsiap, Malaysian kechap, and Indonesian ketjap, the sauce was more like soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce than modern ketchup. Until the 19th century, British and American ketchup was often made from mushrooms, nuts, or fruit. The first tomato-based ketchups were made from unripe tomatoes and were quite thin. In the late 19th century, H. J. Heinz offered an alternative made with ripe tomatoes, and transformed ketchup into the thick condiment we know today. With sweet, ripe tomatoes as the base for his ketchup, Heinz was able to add enough vinegar to preserve the product naturally. Balanced out with plenty of sweetener, ketchup as we know it was born.

To find our favorite, we rounded up eight brands (all available nationwide and fairly traditional--no spicy mango ketchups allowed) and asked 29 tasters to taste them straight from the bottle (on spoons) and with hot french fries. The winner was a true surprise.

Tangy, Salty, and Sweet

Our tasters made a lot of comments (and complaints) about acidity. They wanted a tangy ketchup, and several brands failed on this count. Since fat and protein (say, in a burger) temper ketchup's acidity, ketchup needs a pronounced tang to avoid tasting dull. Because tanginess was clearly a high priority for tasters, we got out the kitchen's pH meter to test each sample. The three ketchups at the bottom of the ratings were also the least acidic. Our first conclusion: A tangy ketchup is a good ketchup.

Next up on the list to examine was sodium. Product labels told the story here. Most brands contain 150 to 190 milligrams of sodium per tablespoon. The two brands with the lowest sodium landed at the bottom of the ratings. Our second conclusion: A salty ketchup is a good ketchup.

Sweetness is another key ketchup trait, and the brands with less sugar also fell to the bottom of the ratings. Our third conclusion: A sweet ketchup is a good ketchup.

But what about tomato flavor? After all, ketchup is made from tomato paste, which has been cooked long enough to evaporate most of the natural juices. As anyone who has tasted tomato paste knows, its cooked flavor is intense but not terribly nuanced, a quality more likely to be found in less processed tomato products, such as canned whole tomatoes. We sent the ketchups to a local food laboratory for an analysis of total solids (almost all of which would be tomato solids). Sure enough, the three lowest-rated brands had the lowest solids content, and our winning brand had the highest solids content. Our fourth conclusion: A ketchup with more tomatoes is a good ketchup.

Besides providing color and thickness, tomatoes are a source of umami, the savory quality in "meaty" foods such as soy sauce and mushrooms that is related to the presence of the amino acid glutamate. Tomatoes are also a source of bitterness. Thus ketchup triggers all five major taste sensations: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. And so we reached our final conclusion about good-tasting ketchup: It has all five elements in perfect balance.

In the Thick of Things

Beyond flavor, our tasters were also very picky about consistency. Ketchup has to be thick enough to keep it from turning buns and fries soggy, but it shouldn't be pasty. Pectin is typically ketchup's only thickener.

To evaluate thickness, we sent samples to the lab to have the pectin levels measured. All but one fell within a fairly close range. But while pectin may be the only thickener in ketchup, it's not the only thing that can affect consistency. The amount of tomato solids and the presence of calcium (often added during the processing of tomato products) also play a role. Determined to quantify the thickness of each brand, we found a tool used to measure consistency in ketchup (and other products). Called a Bostwick consistometer, this stainless steel trough is marked with centimeters and measures the viscosity of foods. We differentiated the "sort of" thick ketchups from the really thick ones by setting the consistometer at 28 degrees (so the ketchups would flow more quickly) and then timed each sample to see how long it took to travel 24 centimeters--the entire length of the trough. Most of the ketchups took between one and 2 1/2 minutes to traverse the trough, but two were noticeably slower, taking about 10 and eight minutes, respectively. Yes, ketchup should flow slowly, but there is such as thing as too thick and too slow.

Our conclusion? Ketchup is best when it's smooth, thick, and tangy, with balanced, bold flavors. The parameters are tight--not too thick or too thin, not too tangy or too sweet. Bright red but no chunks. Brands that deviated from this formula fell to the bottom of the rankings. And while the remaining brands might look alike, our tasters noted some significant flavor differences. None were unacceptable, but one possessed a balance of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami flavors that stood out among the pack.