Food History: Ketchup and Mustard

Around 300 BCE, people in China were experimenting with making pungent pastes out of fermented fish guts. A few centuries later, the Greek historian Pliny shared a method to treat scorpion stings using the ground-up seeds of a common plant. These are the unlikely origin stories of ketchup and mustard. Hi, I'm Justin Dodd. And I'm Justin Dodd. Welcome to Food History, and shout out to Bradley Jones and No Diet Diet Club for suggesting ketchup and condiments as topics. People in the United States spend over a billion dollars in total on ketchup and mustard each year. But neither item was invented here. So how did two condiments with thousands of years of history between them become associated with hot dogs and hamburgers? By the way, looking good, Justin. Thanks, Justin. Let's start with mustard. It's been around for a while. In fact, it may have been among the first crops ever cultivated. Mustard first appears in the archaeological record in China around 6,800 years ago. And in this case, when I say mustard, I'm referring to the plant and its seeds and not the condiment that comes from them. There are multiple species of mustard plant, with most being members of the Brassica or Sinapis genera. Mustard is closely related to broccoli and cabbage. Bonus shout out to Randall Mason and the 47 people who liked his comment suggesting we make a whole episode on foods that are hybrids of cabbage. I reserved the right to make a super-involved episode on that topic, but for now, here's an incomplete list of plants that are somehow all the same species. Brassica oleracea Cabbage Kale Kohlrabi Broccoli Broccolini Brussels sprouts Cauliflower All one species. Science is weird. When it comes to mustard, the seeds harvested from the plant were used as a spice in medicine before they became a condiment. Indian and Sumerian texts from around 2000 BCE mention them in this context. The paste-like form of mustard showed up roughly 2,500 years ago. The Greeks and Romans blended ground-up mustard seeds with unfermented grape juice, or must, to make a smooth mixture. The term mustard may come from the Latin for hot must, a truly unappetizing combination The first version of this concoction wasn't necessarily food. It may have been used more for its medicinal properties, and not completely without reason. Mustard seeds are rich in compounds called glucosinolates. When these particles get broken down, they produce isothiocyanates, powerful antioxidants that fight inflammation and give mustard its nose-tingling kick. The Greeks and Romans applied mustard's medicinal properties to almost every ailment imaginable. Hippocrates praised its ability to soothe aches and pains. Many of mustard's historical uses don't hold up to modern science. For instance, it's not a cure for epilepsy, as the Romans once believed. But it's still used as a holistic treatment for arthritis, back pain, and even sore throats. While experimenting with mustard as medicine, the Greeks and Romans discovered that pulverized mustard seeds were pretty tasty. In the 1st century CE, Roman agriculture writer Lucius Junius Moderatus Cullumella published the first recorded recipe for mustard as a condiment in his tome De Re Rustica. It called for an acid and ground mustard seeds—the same basic formula that's used to make mustard today. Meanwhile, the evolution of another popular condiment was underway halfway across the world. Ketchup first appeared in China around 300 BCE. In the Amoy dialect of Chinese, ke chiep means the brine of pickled fish, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. 19th century ethnologist Therion de la Couperie thought the word might have come from a Chinese community living outside of China. In any case, the name is pretty much the only thing that that version of ketchup had in common with the bottle of red stuff in your fridge. It was actually much more like garum, a Mediterranean fish sauce that was once widely popular in ancient Roman cuisine. Modern versions of garum can actually be found today in high-end restaurants like Denmark's Noma. Some have even suggested that Asian fish sauce is a descendant of garum. And how was the Chinese fish sauce, known as ketchup, made? Likely by fermenting ingredients like fish entrails, soybeans, and meat byproducts. You probably know that fermentation gives us beer and wine, and you might even know that it can involve yeast. But what exactly is going on when something ferments? Fermentation is a pathway for breaking down carbohydrates like glucose when aerobic respiration isn't possible—when oxygen isn't able to act as an acceptor of the electron transport chain. Both aerobic respiration and fermentation create adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. And if, like me, you only remember things from school that rhyme, you know that ATP gives NRG. You might read online that fermentation is carried out by simple organisms, and that's mostly true. But it can also happen within your own body. Red blood cells don't have mitochondria, and therefore can't perform cellular respiration. Instead, they carry out lactic acid fermentation. The live cultures in yogurt do, too, as do muscle cells in certain conditions. One byproduct of lactic acid fermentation is lactate—hence the name. And despite it not rhyming, I clearly remember being taught in school that the buildup of lactate was responsible for sore muscles. Turns out, research indicates that's probably not the case. Thanks a lot, Mr. Madriachia. My typical theater major disclaimers apply for that scientific breakdown, but the important thing for us to know is that fermentation creates byproducts that can be of great interest to human beings. One such byproduct is the ethanol that gives us beer and wine through alcohol fermentation. Another is monosodium glutamate, also known as MSG. A lot of theories fly around about MSG, but it's worth pointing out that glutamates appear naturally in all sorts of foods, from tomatoes to beef to parmesan cheese. Our own bodies produce glutamates, and MSG can give foods a savory, hard-to-define flavor called umami. The fish paste that was created by fermentation possessed this umami, and was used to add a salty, savory depth of flavor to a variety of dishes. And because fermentation can breed so-called good organisms while inhibiting the growth of the bad bacteria that causes food to rot, this version of ketchup could be stored on ships for months without spoiling, an important factor at a time when trade routes could take months to traverse. As ketchup spread to different parts of the globe, it went through a few transformations. Trade routes carried it to Indonesia and the Philippines, and it was likely around this part of the world that British traders discovered and fell in love with the funky seasoning. As soon as ketchup landed in Great Britain in the early 1700s, Western cooks found ways to make it their own. One of the first English recipes for ketchup, published in Eliza Smith's 1727 book The Complete Housewife, calls for anchovies, shallots, ginger, cloves, and horseradish. Some recipes used oysters as the seafood component, while others just cut the fish out of the fish sauce completely. Popular bases for ketchup around this time included peaches, plums, celery seed, mushrooms, nuts, lemon, and beer. Like their predecessor, these sauces were often salty, flavorful, and had a long shelf life, but beyond that, they could vary greatly. The word ketchup evolved into a kind of catch-all term for any spiced condiment served with a meal. Spiced referring to ingredients like cinnamon or nutmeg, rather than heat level, by the way. Walnut is said to have been the preferred ketchup variety of Jane Austen. You know, now I'm imagining Elizabeth Bennet being courted by a Mr. Walnut. He's mature. He's deep. He's just a little spicy. Mustard received its own makeover when it was imported to different parts of Europe. The Romans invaded the land now known as France in the first century BCE, and the mustard seeds they brought with them thrived in the region's fertile soil. Locals loved the new condiment, including the monks living in the French countryside. By the 9th century, monasteries had turned mustard production into a major source of income. Mustard found its way into less humble settings as well. Pope John XXII was said to be such a fan that he appointed a Grand Moutardier du Pape, or Grand Mustard Maker, to the pope. John XXII was one of the Avignon popes, who lived in what is now France rather than Rome, and he created the mustard-making position specifically for his unemployed nephew, who lived in Dijon, which was already the mustard capital of France by the 14th century. You know, my uncle never gave me a stupid made-up job when I was unemployed, but then again he's only the Bishop of Gibraltar, so… Even French royalty developed a taste for mustard. King Louis XI made it an essential part of his diet, going so far as to travel with a personal pot of the sauce so he'd never have to eat a meal without it. And honestly, respect. There are many types of mustard—yellow, spicy, brown, English, Chinese, and German, to name a few. But to some condiment connoisseurs, mustard is still synonymous with the creamy Dijon variety that first took hold of France centuries ago. In 1634, it was declared that true French mustard could only be made in Dijon. The recipe was an important part of French cuisine, but as one innovator proved, there was still room left for improvement. Dijon native Jean Neijon—say that three times fast—tinkered with the formula in swapping the traditional vinegar with verjus, or the sour juice of unripe grapes. The simple change gave Dijon the smooth taste and creamy texture that's associated with the product today. Most modern Dijon uses white wine or wine vinegar to imitate that original verjus flavor, and most of it isn't made in Dijon. Unlike Champagne or Parmigiano-Reggiano, which must come from the areas who lend their names to the products, Dijon no longer enjoys protected designation of origin status. The Dijon you're most likely to find in your local supermarket is probably Grey Poupon. In 1866, inventor Maurice Grey teamed up with financier Auguste Poupon to revolutionize the mustard world. Grey's automated mustard-making machine brought the artisan product into the industrial age. Today, most Grey Poupon mustard is made in American factories and enjoyed in the backs of Rolls-Royces. Did we fact check that? That doesn't sound right. While mustard was flourishing, ketchup was still figuring out how it would leave its mark on the white t-shirt of history. After arriving in America by way of British colonization, the sauce joined forces with the ingredients that would define it for decades to come—the tomato. The British had experimented with turning nearly everything they could find into ketchup, but tomatoes were an exception. At least in part because, much like the star of our mashed potatoes episode, the New World fruit was believed by some to be poisonous when it was first introduced to Europe by explorers in the 16th century. It's possible that some wealthy English people did get sick from eating tomatoes, though not for the reasons they suspected. If they were eating off lead in pewter plates, the acid from the tomatoes may have leached lead into their food, thus giving them a case of lead poisoning. They might have mistaken for tomato poisoning. A lot of food historians doubt how much influence this could have had in public perception, though, arguing that lead poisoning takes too long to develop to get connected to any single dish. Instead, it could just be that tomatoes looked like plants that Europeans knew were poisonous and so were branded with guilt by association. The bottom line is, the reasons are contested, but by the late 16th century, you can definitely find anti-tomato texts in English. The misconception about the risks of tomatoes may have persisted among English Americans if it weren't for the efforts of some passionate tomato advocates. One of these crusaders was Philadelphia scientist and horticulturist James Meese. He referred to tomatoes as love apples, and in 1812 he published the first known recipe for tomato ketchup. The name love apples didn't stick, sadly, but tomato ketchup did. People with fears about tomatoes felt safer eating them in processed form, something anyone who's ever ordered a burger with no tomatoes but extra ketchup can relate to. And ketchup may have gotten an assist from a bit of old-fashioned quackery. Dr. John Cook Bennett touted tomatoes as a cure for maladies ranging from diarrhea to indigestion. He published his own recipes for tomato ketchup, and eventually the product was being sold in pill form as patent medicine, helping to sway public perception about the benefits of tomatoes. In reality, though, early tomato ketchup was actually less safe than tomatoes from the vine. The first commercial products were poorly preserved, resulting in jars that were teeming with bacteria. And not the good kind. Some manufacturers cut corners by pumping the condiment with dangerous levels of artificial preservatives. Coal tar was also added to ketchup to give it its red color. That's just slightly less concerning than the time Heinz made ketchup green. God, the early 2000s were weird. Speaking of Heinz, the company is largely responsible for elevating ketchup from potential botulism in a bottle to staple condiment. Pennsylvania entrepreneur Henry J. Heinz got his start in the condiment business in 1869 by making and selling his mother's horseradish recipe. Seven years later, he saw an opportunity to bring some much-needed quality to the ketchup market. The first bottles of Heinz ketchup hit stores in 1876, and in the years that followed, they would do several things that set themselves apart from the competition. For starters, Heinz got rid of the coal tar and all that other stuff you don't want in your french fries. Instead, he blended distilled vinegar with ripe, fresh tomatoes. His formula was shelf-stable, and it tasted good. But that alone may not have been enough to make Heinz a household name. Arguably, the biggest change he made was packaging his products in clear, glass bottles. Before that, ketchup had been sold in brown bottles to hide its poor quality. With Heinz, customers knew exactly what they were getting. The Heinz ketchup bottle is one of the most iconic pieces of food packaging ever created, and it's likely shaped your perception of the product. This extends even to the spelling of the word. If you write C-A-T-S-U-P, you may get funny looks, but it's a perfectly valid old spelling for the word, and for years, it was actually the preferred spelling in America. Heinz labeled his condiment, ketchup with a K, as another way to differentiate it from its ketchup-with-a-C counterparts. Today, Heinz's version is widely regarded as the correct spelling. Mustard also arrived in America shortly after the first European settlers did, but all-American yellow mustard didn't appear until much later. At the World's Fair in Chicago in 1904, the Arte French Company debuted its new Cream Salad Mustard, which is an unfortunate name, but still much better than Hot Must. Hot. Must. Distracted fairgoers may have overlooked the product if it wasn't for a special new ingredient. Mustard is naturally brown or beige, but brothers George and Francis French added turmeric to their mustard to give it a neon yellow look. For a canvas to showcase their condiment, the French chose the hot dog, a dish that The Arte French Company's Cream Salad Mustard, or French's yellow mustard, is still a classic hot dog topping more than a century later. Although, to be honest, I'd just as soon take my hot dog with no mustard or ketchup at all. Is that bad? What do you guys think is the right way to top a hot dog? Please tell us in the comments. And as long as we're starting unnecessary comment fights that will invariably devolve into hysterical ad hominem attacks, what's the best way to top a burger? Ketchup? Mustard? Mayonnaise? Whatever your personal feelings may be, and put me down for some honey mustard and a bit of garlic aioli, ketchup and mustard have no doubt secured their positions as culinary heavyweights. Surprisingly, though, neither product is the top-selling condiment in the U.S. That distinction belongs to ranch dressing, which is a $1 billion industry as of last year, and really just speaks to the decline of the American empire. Did King Louis XI carry around a pot of it? Did Jane Austen have a favorite ranch recipe? Not likely. Last episode, we promised to answer a food or drink-related question from the comments, and Vincent Chavez Jr. asked, Does dark roast coffee have more caffeine, or at which point I assume he fell asleep at his keyboard? I'm sorry, Vincent. It turns out this question is a bit harder to answer than you might expect. You'll find sources online swearing that dark roast has more caffeine because it tastes stronger, that light roast has more caffeine because less caffeine is burned off in the roast, and that there are no meaningful differences. Here is what's really going on. Caffeine is not appreciably affected by the roasting process. It's actually quite stable at the temperatures used in coffee roasting. But the beans themselves are affected. The more a coffee bean gets roasted, the more water evaporates out, and, somewhat confusingly, the larger the bean gets. So the dark roasted beans are less dense. The individual beans don't change in caffeine content, but more of them are needed to create an equivalent mass of ground coffee beans. That means that a cup of dark roast coffee, if made using the same mass of coffee grinds and brewed in exactly the same way as a cup of light roast coffee, might have a bit more caffeine. In practice, there are a number of other variables in play, from the species of coffee to the amount of water used in the brew, so your best bet is probably just ordering coffee based on your preferred taste. Hold the mustard.