Cultured Condiments - Ketchup

The word "ketchup" comes from the ancient Chinese "ke-tsiap", meaning "pickled fish-brine," which is one of the most widely used condiments in the world. (Per Nourishing Traditions pg 104-5). Perfect for hamburgers and fries in particular, ketchup is also a good base for tomato BBQ sauce or chili. It is also one of my favorite condiments of ever (the other, for you curious few, is mayonnaise).

Since we avoid garlic, we have to avoid any commercially processed food that lists "spices" in its ingredients. Garlic is almost always one. (We also avoid turmeric, which is universally used as well.) Annie's Homegrown Organic Ketchup is safe for us, but uses vinegar in place of the natural fermenting process. When you naturally culture your condiments, they are full of living enzymes (in this case, lactic acid) instead of chemical preservatives.

I'm trying to sneak more cultured foods into our diet - besides the sauerkraut that my family will or won't eat depending on the direction of the wind, apparently. I also naturally culture my salsa, which is delicious. I will post that recipe tomorrow.

Here is our recipe for a naturally fermented ketchup sauce that you can customize with whatever spices you prefer. Adapted from Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups organic tomato paste (roughly four 6oz. cans, if not using homemade)
  
• 1 Tbsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup fish sauce
• juice of one lemon
  
• 1 Tbsp paprika
  
• 1/2 tsp clove
• 1/2 tsp allspice
  
• chives or green onions, finely sliced
  
• 1 quart-sized (or 2 pint-sized) canning jars with lids
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Grind salt and chives or green onions into a paste
   
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
   
3. Pour into one quart-sized canning jar (or two pint-sized), leaving at least one inch below top of jar.
   
4. Secure lids.
   
5. Leave at room temperature to ferment for roughly two days.
   
6. Transfer to cold storage (i.e. fridge).
   

Yields: 1 quart-sized or 2 pint-sized jars of ketchup.

ALTERNATIVES:

• Try tomatillos instead of tomatoes for green ketchup
• Try adding pureed roasted red peppers
• Use garlic in addition to or instead of chives & onions
• For curry ketchup, use curry spices (e.g. allspice, garlic, coriander, cardamom, turmeric)
• For Tex-Mex ketchup, use Mexican spices (e.g. clove, garlic, onion, cilantro/coriander, paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin)
• For Italian ketchup, use Italian spices (oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, garlic, onion)
• Try adding (or using instead of tomatoes) various fruit pastes - cherries, apricots, mangoes, plums, etc.
• Just experiment! Cinnamon ketchup? Why not?