Show DISCOVERY OF CATSUP Through a Preserve Makers Mistake Mis-take in Vsiiifj Vroiif Ingredients The discovery of catsup and how the oddsounding name came to be applied ap-plied to that common and important table garniture was curiously enough due to a blunder by a preservemaker many years ago when the canning industry in-dustry was in its swaddling clothes I This statement was made by a veteran I member of theAWestern Canners and Packers association at the Trpmxmt yesterday It is only another illustration he said hoW mistakes sometimes lead to important discoveries In connection with this story I may add that when I was a boy tomatoesfrom which catsup is made or Adams apples Us they were known in those days were considered rank poison They were looked upon only as beautiful and valuable i val-uable additions < to the flower garden as j an ornament No one dreamed what a i delicious article of food they were In the east many years ago a well known preserve maker now dead While boiling a nuge cauldron run of tomatoes for preserves one day acci dently put the wrong spices and other ingredients into the boiling mass of vegetables He did not discover his error until some time ofterwards When tasting the mixture to ascertain whether it had been boiled to the proper consistency he saw that something some-thing was wrong Tomato preserves never tasted like that He smacked his lips puckered his mouth and made avery a-very wry face as the bittersweet and now familiar pungent flavor of the mixture made itself felt Shovingthe caldron off the fire to prevent a possible scorching he made a hurried Investigation quickly discovering dis-covering that he had used articles strange to preserves and the result was that steaming but not unpleasant flavored mess before him Well said he with a rueful expression ex-pression on his face speaking to an attendant the cats up meaning by that slang term that the tomatoes had been spoiled The whole mess was about to be thrown out but fortunately for cat suploving mankind a happy thought suggested itself to the author of the trouble The taste of the new mixture still lingered on the palate and he had to confess that it was very pleasant pleas-ant I wonder how that will taste on a piece of roast meat he remarked and the suggestion was immediately acted upon with the result that the caldron of boiled tomatoes was carefully care-fully bottled and it soon became a popular table adjunct and a source of great profit to the discoverer The name Ketchings was first used to designate the new condiment and it Is yet to be occasionally met with but the proper name is catsup from the angry expletive of the cook when he exclaimed the cats up in discovering what he had doneChicago Times |