There are very few things that can be improved by adding ketchup. It can certainly turn burnt meatloaf into something borderline edible. And it can be okay on burgers, so long as you go really light with it, maybe dilute the flavor with mayo. The problem is that it all too easily overpowers the flavor of whatever you put it on so that all you can taste is the ketchup.
I really cannot understand people’'s love for Ketchup. I remember being horrified when I visited a chinese restaurant in my travels, and saw ketchup on the table instead of duck sauce. Then again, a friend of mine from Washington state told me he used to go to a chinese restaurant there and order hamburgers… Some people…
Ask when this was. Keep in mind that in the 1960s-70s, a lot of “Chinese” restaurants, even if run by actual Chinese, served this vile Americanized Chinese food that many found unpalatable (if you knew about, and wanted the real thing, you had to ask for the “special menu”), so they would offer a selection of “American” foods for those people who got dragged along with a group but didn’t like “Chinese” food.
When I was a kid in the '70s, my mom seemed to love that fake Chinese food, so on the rare occasions when we went out to eat, it seemed to be “Chinese” half the time. To my child’s eye, every dish seemed to be a pile of rice topped with bean sprouts and celery, and very little meat, smothered in sweet & sour sauce. Yuck! I always ordered a bacon & egg sandwich.
It’s only been as an adult that I’ve discovered there are whole categories of real Chinese food that are wonderful and delicious.
In the fries & tots genre, you left out hash browns.
Here’s a partial list of things I’ve seen people put ketchup on:
fish sticks
fried shrimp
fish and chips
fried fish sandwiches
hamburgers (beef)
turkey burgers
veggie burgers
hotdogs
corn dogs
pigs in a blanket
scrambled eggs
green beans
shepherd’s pie
mashed potatoes
meatloaf
steak
turkey
macaroni and cheese
grilled cheese sandwiches
I’ve heard rumors about people putting ketchup on pizza, but never actually seen it.
Ketchup is for burgers, various types of fried potatoes (french fries, tater tots, hash browns, etc.), and scrapple[sup]*[/sup]. There’s probably a few other things I’m not thinking of.
[sup]*[/sup]What the hell kind of un-American communistic spell-checker doesn’t recognize “scrapple”?
Traditional Aus Tomato Sauce (like “White Crow”) was Pepper piperaceae. And it went on (heavily pepper) meat pies. The whole chilli pepper thing is a new innovation here, mostly influenced by Indonesian/Malay/Vietnamese/Chinese cooking in the last 25 years.
Because, for some reason, it overwhelms all the other flavors on anything. It’s seen as a way to cover up the flavor of all the good condiments.
When I was a kid, it didn’t do this. I could taste all of it. But, as an adult, now that ketchup is rather sweet tasting, it seems to cover everything up. If I use it at all, it must be very sparing.
I would really love a less-sweet ketchup, so that it would taste the way regular ketchup did to my younger tastebuds. I remember back when putting it on fries tasted good.
I don’t need to ask. I’m repeating a story a friend in College told me many years ago (It was probably around 1980 when I heard the story, so I figure early '70s).
I was born in NYC, and spent most of my time growing up in the suburbs of NYC, so we had access to almost any ethnic or national food substance you can name. I know people living in Taiwan (my brother’s in-laws), who’ve told me that the best Chinese Food you can get is in NYC.
I recently listened to a conversation with the writers and creators of the new documentary film “The Search for General Tso”. They argue that there is no such thing as ‘authentic’ Chinese food, because Cuisine is always changing and evolving to people’s tastes. So even if you went to a restaurant in China, it’s been influenced by all the other cuisines that have altered or influenced people’s tastes and cooking methods and so on. They talked about Cajun Chinese and Midwest Chinese and so on. Two dishes with the same exact name will have totally different flavors because the chefs alter the recipes to local tastes, making the dishes sweeter or spicier, or changing ingredients as prices for those ingredients change and so on. But the same things happens in China as well.
In any case, back to the original subject. IF you come to New York and try to order a Hot Dog with Ketchup, you will be arrested. OK, you won’t be arrested, but people will point and make fun of you (unless, of course, you are under the age of 13, in which case people will just shrug).
That said, if you come to New York, and try to eat Pizza with a fork and knife, you WILL be outed on the “Daily Show”.
Agreed Hey Hey Paula. Since moving to the Bay Area, I haven’t been able to find a good dog. I did goto Ivy’s last summer when I visited The Folx. Damn near gorged myself.
I like ketchup on my hot dogs, and I don’t care who knows it.
That said, I wouldn’t put ketchup on a Chicago-style dog for a number of reasons:
[ul]
[li]it’s just ‘not done’ (in a sort of “When in Rome”… sort of way)[/li][li]There’s so much stuff already on a Chicago-style dog that I don’t know if I could find room[/li][li]I wouldn’t be eating a Chicago-style dog in the first place, because I don’t want that many toppings on my hot dog…I’m fine with just some ketchup, please :)[/li][/ul]
