Anyone for 300 year old ketchup?

Nicola here. There’s something about this time of year that makes me think about food even more than I usually do. Perhaps it’s the run up to the festive season when I’m not only thinking of the dishes I’d like to cook, or more accurately, I’d like the DH to cook for me as he’s a much better chef than I am, but somehow the dark evenings, short days and cold weather make me long to turn to food for both comfort and warmth.

I’m reasonably okay about trying new dishes but when I came across a recipe that mentioned elderberry ketchup I did wince a little. My memories of ketchup, which I haven’t tried in decades, mainly consist of eating fish fingers with tomato ketchup as a child. Anyway, the dictionary definition of ketchup I found is “a spicy sauce made chiefly from tomatoes and vinegar, used as relish.” Historically, ketchup recipes began to appear in British and American cookbooks in the 18^th century. In the UK it was in fact mushrooms rather than tomatoes that first became a staple ingredient, along with shallots and sometimes walnuts. The tomato version only came along 100 years later.

This elderberry ketchup recipe though is said to predate them all. In Restoration England, after the Great Fire of London in 1666, one of the country’s first restaurants opened. Called The Pontack’s Head, it was run by the owner of Haut-Brion, one of Bordeaux’s great wine estates. His wine was particularly popular with Charles II, who brought it very much into fashion. Both Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn mention in this their diaries of the time and John Locke complained that at 7 shillings a bottle it was three times the price of other clarets and more than the cost of dinner, which started at 4 shillings for a “ragout of fatted snails”.  Pontack’s was the first cult wine and The Pontack’s Head became a celebrity restaurant patronised by writers such as Swift and Defoe, and the members of the Royal Society.

Pontack Sauce, or ketchup, was based on this wine mixed with elderberries and brewed for seven years to allow the vinegar flavour to mellow. However, the addition of honey means that you can serve it immediately! I’ve included the recipe below if anyone would like to try this 17^th century sauce, which apparently goes well with chicken.

Pontack Sauce

4 cups of elderberries, washed and with stalks removed

Small piece of ginger

6 allspice berries

4 cloves

1 shallot

¾ cup honey

1 cup cider vinegar

Tie the ginger, allspice, cloves and shallot into a muslin spice bag.

Bring the honey and cider vinegar to the boil in a saucepan.

Add the elderberries and spice bag to the pan and boil for 15 minutes. Remove the spice bag and boil remainder for another 15 minutes. (Be careful not to get too close to the boiling vinegar.)

The sauce is cooked when the bubbles begin to grow bigger, just like jam.

Blitz the sauce in a blender. It can be stored in a bottle for up to a month.

The Pontack’s Head was in Abchurch Street, near St Paul’s Cathedral, and it was not the only famous eatery in that area; a woman called Mrs Wells ran a very popular cake shop nearby! Both of these are long gone but you can still stroll down Abchurch Street past the place where guests once quaffed snails and pontack sauce!

Are you a fan of ketchup? Would you like to try an elderberry flavoured variety or another different flavour? (I found various different ketchups when I searched!) Or do you have any other sauces that are a favourite?

Comments

[Andrea Penrose]

Wonderful post, Nicola! So, the idea of a celebrity restaurant isn't new at all! (Careme was the darling chef of the Regency era, but so fun to learn of Potack's. I wish the cake shop was still there!

I do like traditional (tomato here in the States) ketchup on hamburgers and fries, but am not one of those who douses it on everything. The elderberry version sounds intriguing . . .but alas, elderberries are widely available where I live.

[Teresa Broderick]

I don't think 'ragout of fatted snails' will grace many Christmas dinner tables. Although if I had to choose between that and ketchup, the snails would win!!! I loathe the stuff which I always find strange because I love tomatoes.
It amazes me how far back food stuffs go that we think of as of our time.

[theo]

I like ketchup on my burgers, hot dogs and fries and I admit to adding it to my goulash, but I'm not a huge user of it. Thing 1 however, should own stock in Heinz! She puts it on her burger then blobs it on her plate and dunks her burger in the stuff. Ugh.

I did tomato preserves this summer. They're very tasty! Can't convince my husband to try them on his pancakes or toast, but I liked them a lot. They didn't thicken as much as they should though so if I make them again, I'll add some pectin. But they're as old or older than ketchup.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Not a fan of the standard red, very artificial commercial ketchup. The elderberry version at least sounds interesting!

[LOLA J GAUNT]

A few years ago, my daughter and I decided to make our own ketchup. It was a LOT of work but loved the taste, gave several jars away as Christmas presents, but we had fun doing it.

[Sue McCormick]

In the 40s we made Chili sauce with our tomatoes, rather than ketchup. Home made chili sauce can be used anytime one would use ketchup and it tasted so much better.

HOWEVER, our production line consisted of me, my younger sister, my mother, and her older sister (the acknowledge cook of the family). I don't have the (wo)man powere that existed in those days, so I don't make it for myself.

I like commercial ketchup as noted above, but we don't use it widely.

I have no idea of I'd like the elderberry version, as I have no idea what elderberries taste like.

What about the Original? mushroom type Nicola mentioned?

[Nicola Cornick]

Hi Andrea, yes, I thought that Careme was the first celebrity chef but perhaps Potack was more of a celebrity sommelier. I was surprised that the celeb restaurant idea went back so far!

[Nicola Cornick]

It's astonishing, isn''t it, Teresa. I had a vague idea that ketchup was a 20th century thing. I don't like tomato ketchup either but I would eat in preference to the fatted snails!

[Nicola Cornick]

I hadn't though to put ketchup in goulash, theo, but I really like that idea. I do like a bit of tomato preserve as well. I thought I didn't until I tried some earlier this year and was pleasantly surprised!

[Nicola Cornick]

Maybe it's the additives that make it so unappealing, Mary Jo - I'm not a fan either! I am tempted to try the elderberry version when elderberries are next in season around here.

[Nicola Cornick]

How brilliant, Lola! I can imagine the homemade version tasted much, much nicer than the mass produced ones. It's such a great idea for a present too!

[Nicola Cornick]

Chili tomato sauce with homegrown tomatoes sounds delicious, Sue. A lot of these things are very labour intensive, though, aren't they! I'll have to look out a recipe for the mushroom ketchup. I love mushrooms so that one might be worth a try.

[Lillian Marek]

Elderberry ketchup sounds intriguing, but I don't think I'm going to try it. I've never actually seen any, and I just looked for them on the internet. $4.20 for an ounce plus $5.98 shipping.
Sue's home made chili sauce sounds more appealing. My mother preferred chili sauce to ketchup, so that's what I grew up putting on my hamburgers.

[Diane Sallans]

I've never had a different flavor ketchup - I'll have to see if I can find one, maybe at a farmer's market. I do enjoy tomato ketchup with potatoes.

[Kareni]

The elderberry ketchup sounds intriguing. Were some to show up on my table, I'd happily sample it. I think it's safe to say though that I will not be making it.

I eat ketchup on fried eggs, fried potatoes as well as hamburgers. I recommend Portland Ketchup which is flavorful while also being relatively low in sodium compared to some of the big brands.

[John Jackson]

This is the sort of recipe I must try next summer. Right up my street.

We are regular users of the "original ketjap" from Indonesia! That's soy based, of course. Basically a thicker soy saucd, and available in sweet (Manis) or salty (Ajyn)

[Nicola Cornick]

Yikes, Lillian, that is a high price for an experimental recipe! It's a shame I can't send some to everyone; they grow wild all over the place around here.

[Nicola Cornick]

I bet there are lots of different homemade ketchups out there - I never thought to look before! Do let us know if you find any, Diane!

[Nicola Cornick]

Thank you for the recommendation, Kareni. i like the sound of Portland Ketchup but I don't expect I could find it over here. I'm still disappointed that we don't get Ranch Dressing as good as in the US.

[Nicola Cornick]

That sounds tasty, John. I'e tried the Ajyn but not the Manis. Will give that a go. If you do make the elderberry ketchup next year I'll drop in to sample it if I may!

[Anne Gracie]

Enjoyable post, Nicola. I make tomato ketchup from time to time (though we call it tomato sauce here -- and it's not the kind of sauce you use with pasta, but the kind that will go nicely with a sausage.) I love the taste of anchovies and have been in search of a commercial anchovy sauce (ketchup) but now I'm pondering the possibilities of a sauce/ketchup made of anchovies, mushrooms and walnuts . . . And maybe elderberries, though no idea where I'll find those. But first, hunt down a good recipe . . .

[Mary M.]

A quick ramble through Google tells me ... you can substitute cranberries for elderberries in recipes!

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Mary but I don't think cranberries grow here, either. I've only ever seen them sold as sweetened, dried berries. But I'll find something that will suit, I'm sure. :)

[Nicola Cornick]

Thank you, Anne. So you're an anchovy fan too! It's quite an acquired taste, isn't it. Combined with mushrooms, walnuts and elderberries that would be quite a thing!

[Nicola Cornick]

That sounds as though it might be rather good, Mary! We can buy fresh cranberries here although we don't grow them.