Did You Know – Ketchup

Did you know Ketchup was once used as a medicine?
In 1834, Dr. John Cooke Bennet added tomatoes to his concoction which was made with fish or mushrooms. The addition of the tomatoes added vitamins and antioxidants to the sauce.
He claimed his recipe could cure Diarrhea, Indigestion, Jaundice and Rheumatism. He had his sauce made into an extract of tomato pills and had them sold by Archibald Miles, a pill salesman.
Once the pills hit the market, there were many copycat tomato based pills being sold. Some of these copycat pills had false claims and caused the Ketchup medicine empire to collapse in 1850.
Amazon still sells the Mushroom Ketchup today!
Image: http://www.Amazon.com
Source: http://www.Ripleys.com
http://www.InDianesKitchen.com
Categories: Did You Know
Mushroom ketchup … never heard of that! Thanks for a very interesting story Diane!
Youβre very welcome!
wow, i never knew this and it doesn’t sound appealing in any way, even as a cure
I agree!
Thank you!
π A paraphrasing of a joke spoken by the performer Urma Thurman in the Quentin Tarantino movie π¬ ‘Pulp Fiction’
“What did Mommy Tomato π say to Baby πΆπΏ Tomatoes dragging their heels π π€ ?”
“KETCHUP!!!”
… πππ…
π€£ I need to remember that one!
Thank you Ned!
Amazing! Never knew any of this.
I canβt believe Amazon still sells it!
Who knew?! My Pa used to put ketchup on his eggs and something I picked up from him. It goes well with anything!
I ate ketchup with my eggs too when I was a kid but not anymore. French fries are my favorite thing to put them on.
Mushroom ketchup? No thanks, but the story was very interesting.
I agree with you completely Kellye! My husband hates mushrooms so I would never buy it just for me anyhow.
Oh my goodness – I am going to now look at ketchup differently – love this history with it as medicine!
Right I, too, think it changed my mind about ketchup. Lol
News to me, but how special is Mushroom Ketchup! Mushrooms have many healing benefits!
It must do something right for as long as it has been around.
Mushroom Ketchup – this is news to me, but mushrooms have many health benefits!
So true! I still canβt believe they still sell it though.
This was fascinating and hilarious. I must confess I’m tempted to order some from Amazon. If I do I’ll be sure to let you know how it is. I think YOU should definitely order some and make something delicious with it and then share your recipe! π
My husband would kill me, he hates mushrooms! π
Oops! Well, that is a definite NO
π
My Grandpa used to put ketchup in his tomato soup and even as a kid I thought that was weird! I do like ketchup but not as much as I used to.
Ok I even think thatβs weird. π€£ I put it on scrambled eggs as a kid and thereβs no way I would now. French fries and cheeseburgers are good enough for me.
Wow!
I know, isnβt that crazy?
Very interesting tale! I’ll have to try mushroom ketchup sometime.
I would love to but my husband would kill me as he doesnβt like mushrooms. Lol
I bought some in a supermarket recently for a mushroom strogonoff recipe.Apparently it is great in meaty pies.
No way! You are the first person to say they use it. So it must taste good?
If you had a taste straight from the bottle, I am sure you would think it was vile. But it adds a punchy earthy flavour to dishes. I think I prefer it to soaking dried porcini mushrooms, which are a little bit pongy. I think perhaps the word “ketchup” is a tad misleading though. It is much more watery than for example bottled tomato ketchup. It is much more like a thick stock or even an au jus.
That makes it sound a bit more appealingβ¦.I think! π€£
Well now, th
Hahaha there goes your comment.
This is totally annoying….grrrrrr….:)
I have never had that happen with any comment before. Itβs OK I still appreciate your comment.
Bahaha! Your are kind, Diane. π
I learn something from every one of your blog posts, Diane!
Awe thank you Janet, as I do with good books from you!
I didn’t know that Diane – I like these informational posts you do.
Thank you Linda. I wasnβt sure if my followers would enjoy this Monday posts, however, I have had some great comments.
Yes, we learn something new every week and I was just reading something the other day about our fast food and other food items that people from other countries don’t “get” – they mentioned SPAM for one – we discussed SPAM. Your husband likes it – I like it. I don’t buy it now as I just eat chicken and fish, but I thought it was tasty. I always ate ketchup on my fries and if we had hamburgers and fries in the car, after McDonald’s and Burger King stopped having the styrofoam hamburger containers, I said “no more ketchup in the car” then I got the Regal with its burgundy velour seats and said “no more salt in the car” … fries are good plain, you adapt. π
Thank you again for sharing my post! π