Ketchup

In eighteenth-century England, the first catchups or catsups were thin, vinegar-based sauces and were typically flavoured with oysters, mushrooms, anchovies or walnuts. The most common thin sauce sold today with the qualities of the early catchups is Worcestershire sauce. The thick sweet tomato ketchup which became hugely successful internationally in this century – mostly as an accompaniment to convenience food – is based on an eighteenth-century New England recipe.