RE: Happy Ketchup Day! Tomato Ketchup under the microscope book and fear of consuming it still exists today
Growing up, ketchup was it's own food group. And, as you point out, it had to be Heinz, or nothing. Del Monte, Hunts or any private label concoction were simply pretenders and unacceptable substitutes for the real McCoy, Heinz.
Beyond the standard hamburgers, hot dogs and, of course, french fries, I would have it on scrambled eggs, frozen burritos and bacon. Chicken nuggets weren't a thing when I was young, but I suspect I would have used it on them. However, I would only have ketchup on fish sticks if the tartar sauce ran out.
I'm sure there were other things that had to be paired with the glorious red sauce when I was young, but the above menu covers the most important things... at least as I remember.
Now that I'm older and have to watch my sugars and carbs, ketchup is a rarity. Not because I don't want it, but because the foods I pair up with it are becoming more and more verboten. Bacon, one of the things they say I can indulge in moderately (when it used to be verboten), isn't the same without ketchup. And it is the one thing I still insist on having with my old condiment friend.
Bacon and ketchup. Best Friends Forever.
I have to admit, I have never have ketchup with bacon except accidentally perhaps on a hot dog or hamburger as part of the overall mix. I like it just fine. I can see why you would like that @matthias-green - it works.
I also hate seeing people refilling the Heinz bottles in restaurants with some mystery ketchup coming from a big 2 gallon plastic tub jar. I know people in the bar and restaurant business and some have clearly said that the refill is a generic. That is just straight up wrong.
Remember when President Reagan tried to make ketchup get classified as a vegetable as part of the school lunch program requirements? That was a bit of a piece of bad advice he took from his advisers. :)
Ha! I hadn't remembered that about Reagan. Although I see the silliness in it now. as a youngster, he would have had my full support!
As for "re-fillers", I agree. Anyone who is willing to stoop so low as to put a knock-off sauce into the venerated bottle of the master in order to perpetrate a fraud, should be hung by their thumbs. Like any counterfeiter does, their crime is one that not only steals our money, but deflates our trust in humanity. Luckily, my long years of experience and loyalty to the King of Ketchup, I can spot a fraud with just a small taste.
In any case, thanks for the post. It was fun... I hadn't realized I still had such a passion for ketchup! ;^)