I grew up in Canada, and let me tell you, we North Americans like our condiments. A well stocked North American fridge should have at least an entire shelf given over to condiment storage (or most of the narrow shelves on the fridge door anyway). There really ought to be ketchup, mustard (yellow for sure, dijon and seeded as well maybe), relish (two or three kinds), BBQ sauce and mayo, as the bare minimum. And that’s not to mention thousand island, ranch and italian salad dressings (as well as a few others probably). HP sauce, steak sauce, tabasco sauce, tartar sauce. And then there are the Asian sauces: hoisin, plum, sweet chilli, teriyaki, et al. Am I missing any regulars? I’m sure I am. I’m not as current with the condiment trends as I should be. An old friend of mine mentioned mushroom ketchup the other day, and I had never even heard of that before (it does sounds amazing).
Having lived in Australia for over 16 years now, and condiments not being quite as important a part of the culture here, I had already cut back on the selection in my own fridge before cutting out sugar. But I could still have put together a very well dressed hotdog or burger. In Australia a well dressed hamburger would not be considered so without beetroot, fried egg, and maybe a pineapple round or a sausage for good measure (along with the usual meat patty, cheese slice, tomato and lettuce). But there would likely be only BBQ sauce on it. (!!!) A North American could happily accept one with just meat, cheese, tomato and lettuce (bacon and onion might be considered essential too), but the burger could not be considered well dressed were it not spread with ketchup, mustard, relish, and preferably mayo as well. At least. Probably BBQ sauce too, among other logical possibilities. A proper burger ought to be good and messy. (Mind you, a piece of beetroot also has certain qualities that can up the ante in the mess stakes. I have to give it that, if nothing else.)
But sauce. (This post is about sauce, not burgers.) There is a nasty reality check in store for anyone who decides to cut out sugar, and then starts reading condiment labels. Sugar is in everything! Sometimes masses of it. It’s an effort, but I have been learning to make my own condiments with ingredients I feel better about. I’m not one to give up on delicious-ness just because the store bought version is full of rubbish.
Who wants to contemplate french fries with no ketchup? Not I! (Unless there is a nice pot of gravy nearby instead...). So I set out to see if I could come up with something suitably Heinz-ish enough to satisfy my very discerning (read: fussy), sauce-loving offspring. And not too labour intensive.
The verdict, when served with steak, salad and fries, was: ‘Two thumbs up and 10 outa 10!’ This was communicated in hand signals as the mouth was stuffed full, and busy chewing.
I’ll take that as a win.
Ketchup
This recipe is adapted from this one, and makes about 1 1/2 cups.
Ingredients
2/3 cup (170gr) tomato paste (Preferably organic. I check the labels and choose whichever brand has no added sugar, and lowest sugar content. Tomatoes are quite sweet by nature, so there are some natural sugars in a concentrate - usually about 2.5-3gr per 25 gr.)
1/2 cup (160gr) glucose syrup
1/2 cup (110gr) white vinegar
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/16 tsp ground cloves
1/16 tsp dry mustard powder
1/16 tsp pure non-bitter stevia powder
Directions
1. Add all ingredients to a small saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Let ketchup cool, and then refrigerate.
5. Serve with everything except dessert.
The preservative qualities of vinegar, glucose syrup, and salt will allow this to stay fresh in the fridge for weeks.