The single worst invention of mankind, in my opinion, is ketchup. There, now I have offended 1.2 billion people who can't live without it. Albeit, it's true.
The other day I went for a birthday dinner to Karma, where I experimented with the Milano Paper Pizza. It was nothing like paper and just about qualified as pizza. So i finish my slice of the thin crust and suddenly I receive another slice. "She didn't like it, so its yours", says my wife about the girl next to her, who looked sick. The pizza had too much salty cheese which combined with olive oil and doe made it taste sour. Anyway, I shrug, I bite, I squeal, gulp water and ask the girl, "why the hell have you bathed it with ketchup?" and her unbelievable reply was, "it was too sour so I thought ketchup will help". Did she not know what the taste of ketchup is? Obviously not!
I don't blame her though. We are conditioned to add ketchup to anything western: pizza, pasta, bread, sandwich, burger… some people even mix it with (I'm cringing as I type this) daal and rice! Without understanding its taste or purpose, its use is lethal.
In case you did not know: ketchup came from the far east Asian culture of salted/pickled fish that was used as accompaniment. Today, its essentially tomatoes cooked with salt and (guess what?) large quantity of vinegar. Which is what makes it sour. Then there is sugar and an assortment of spices the use of which depends on the maker.
What ketchup can be used for, is a base for sauces; like a lazy man's Arrabbiata can begin with ketchup or maybe when you want to cook up a quick dip for those wedges.
I guess I was a little harsh on ketchup at the beginning but hey, I stand by my opinion on how we use it. So the next time you handle that bottle, check if you really need it. Ok?
Stick around for more and I'll Ketch ya later! (sorry, couldn't resist cracking that one. :-p)
No comments:
Post a Comment