All About Catsup, Hot Foods and
Jalapeno Ketchup

Catsup or Ketchup?

It was George Toomer aka "Buffalo George" who first explained to me how ketchup first came into being as a fish sauce in the orient and that it was called keechop. I never gave it much thought until now and started researching the subject and decided to make a chronological table to track the development of Ketchup aka Catsup.

Chart of Major Historical Milestones of the Condiment known as "Ketchup"
by Ben Drum

1519 - Cortez first discovered tomatoes growing in Montezuma's gardens and brought back seeds to Europe and planted as ornamental curiosities but not eaten. (small yellow variety)

1540's - Cultivation of tomatoes began and probably eaten shortly afterward.

1595 - The Spanish Word Tomati first appeared in print from which the English word Tomato is derived. (pronounced toe-MAH-tay) as members of the Nightshade family which includes poisonous plants, they were deemed inedible

169? - French botanist Tournefort (1656-1708) bestowed on the tomato the Latin botanical name Lycopersicon esculentum, which translates to "wolf-peach," a reference to the third century writings of Galen concerning a poison in a palatable package which was used to destroy wolves. (It was widely believed that Tomatoes were poisonous)

Late 1600's - Chinese call a mixture of pickled fish and spices "kôe-chiap or kê-chiap" (some purport this Chinese "fish sauce" to be called ke-tsiap)

1690 - Dictionary of the Canting Crew spells Ketchup as catchup (the New Dictionary of the Canting Crew 1690 defines it as 'a high East-India Sauce')

1692 - Earliest discovered cookbook using tomatoes found in Naples, Italy.

Early 1700's - British explorers discover the fish sauce in the area of Malaysia (A version in Malaysia then became kechap and ketjap in Indonesia)

1711 - Charles Lockyer's Trade in India account says: "Soy comes in Tubbs from Jappan, and the best Ketchup from Tonquin; yet good of both sorts are made and sold very cheap in China"

1727 - Recipe for Ketchup appears in Elizabeth Smith's book The Compleat Housewife of 1727, the recipe included anchovies, shallots, vinegar, white wine, sweet spices (cloves, ginger, mace, nutmeg), pepper and lemon peel. (No Tomatoes)

1730 - The term "Catsup" first used in a quote by Jonathon Swift: "And, for our home-bred British cheer, Botargo, catsup, and caveer".

1740's - Ketchup fish sauce becomes a staple for the English.

1748 - Sarah Harrison, The Housekeeper's Pocket-Book and Compleat Family Cook i. (ed.4)2 I therefore advise you to lay in a Store of Spices, ... neither ought you to be without ... Kitchup, or Mushroom Juice.

1751 - Mrs. Hannah Glasse, Cookery Bk. 309 "It will taste like foreign Catchup".

Late 1700's - Tomatoes become a main ingredient in Ketchup.

1801 - Sandy Addison created a recipe for ketchup that was later published in an American Cookbook entitled the "Sugar House Book"

1812 - James Mease published a recipe for ketchup using tomatoes.

1817 - George Gordon Byron, Beppo viii, Buy in gross ... Ketchup, Soy, Chili˜vinegar, and Harvey.

1824 - Tomato Ketchup recipe published in Mary Randolph's "The Virginia Housewife" Cookbook. (Mary Randolph was Thomas Jefferson's cousin)

1832 - Vegetable Substances Used for the Food of Man 333 One ... application of mushrooms is ... converting them into the sauce called Catsup.

Mid 1820's thru1830's American enthusiasm for tomato ketchup grows and farmers sell it locally.

1837 - Jonas Yerks (or Yerkes) Is the first man credited for making Ketchup famous by distributing the product nationally.

1859 - Scribner's Magazine uses the term "catchup": "I do not object to take a few slices of cold boiled ham ... with a little mushroom catchup, some Worcester sauce, and a pickle or so".

1840 - Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge "Some lamb chops (breaded, with plenty of ketchup)."

1845 - Eliza Acton, Modern Cookery v. (1850) 136 (L.) Walnut Ketchup

1862 - Macmillan's Magazine Oct. 466 "He found in mothery catsup a number of yellowish globular bodies."

1874 - Mordecai C. Cooke, Fungi; Their Nature, Influence and Uses 89 One important use to which several ... fungi can be applied, is the manufacture of ketchup.

1876 - Henry John Heinz launches his tomato ketchup.

1913 - Webster's Dictionary defined "catchup" as a "table sauce made from mushrooms, tomatoes, walnuts, etc. [also written as ketchup]"

During the 1900's - Many different Brands are made including Brooks Ketchup

1981 - In July, Ben Drum stops off at the Church's Chicken at 50th and Ave. Q in Lubbock, Texas and Dips a Jalapeno in Ketchup and comes up with the Idea of Jalapeno Ketchup and makes it.

1981 - Early in Ronald Reagan's Administration, the U.S. Government declares Ketchup and Pickle Relish "Vegetables" the school lunch program. The proposal was ridiculed and dropped.

1983-84 - Standard for Ketchup is embodied in the Code of Federal Regulation at 21 CFR §155.194

1995 - Ben's Jalapeno Ketchup is bottled commercially for the first time.

1996 - 2006 Ben's Spiceitup! Jalapeno Ketchup goes live on the World Wide Web and has A Ten year period of Award Winning quality and recognition from several different sources. See Awards at bottom of www.spiceitup.com

199? - Ketchup, being composed of cooked Tomatoes is found to contain high levels of bioavailable Lycopene, a bright red carotene antioxidant associated with decreased cancer risk.

2009 - At 2:01 PM EDT On May 11, The Space Shuttle Atlantis launched on its' 30th Flight and carried Portion Packs of Spiceitup! Brand Jalapeno Ketchup. Certificate of Authenticity can be seen at the Spiceitup.com web site by clicking on the Shuttle Icon at the bottom right of the page.

At Spiceitup! we also believe there is evidence that New Yorkers or Bostonian People continue to spell Catsup the way they speak it. But "Spicy Catsup " was never made in the NorthEast like the " Hot Ketchup " first made in West Texas in July of 1981.

Hot Ketchup or Spicy Ketchup ?

Is Jalapeno Ketchup Hot Ketchup or Spicy Ketchup? The answer is Yes
Just know this, we aren't out to be the hottest, our aim from the beginning was to have a superior gourmet taste and not to be known for a gimmicky attempt to market on heat level.

Hot can be a measure of temperature or in the case of Jalapeno Ketchup, a measure of the spicy heat. This is measured by scale of measure known as Scoville Units named after its creator, American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville whose Organoleptic Test method was devised in 1912. A more modern quantitative analysis uses high-performance liquid chromatography, making it possible to directly measure capsaicinoid content.

Below is a Chart compiled by Drum that groups Pepper Heat in Ranges from least to hottest