Since tomato canning time is upon us, (well, getting late now) I wanted to share a story about canning tomato catsup (not ketchup! For some reason this is important to the story!) Over 40 years ago my former mother-in-law toured a Heinz factory with her Farm Bureau group, where they were shown the process for making catsup. There, a Heinz employee gave her a recipe for making catsup at home. Doris was never sure if the recipe was just one the woman knew, a “contraband” recipe she shouldn’t have given out, or a recipe Heinz gave to staff. At any rate, it was never a “public” recipe. She was very proud of that recipe, but I would never taste it because it “didn’t look right” to me. In other words, if it wasn’t the homogenous, syrupy stuff I grew up with, I didn’t want any part of it. After several years, I finally gave it a try. OH MY GOODNESS! It was fantastic!
After I grew older and began understanding the value in learning about cooking traditions, I yearned to try that recipe. I was worried – my former mother-in-law has dementia and I was afraid I’d lost the opportunity to get the recipe, if for nothing else but to pass on to my daughters. After searching awhile, my girls’ dad found the recipe. Doris was able to give me detailed instructions – and this year for the first time I made home-made catsup! I got my tomatoes from Charter Farm Produce on Ida Center Road. Here’s the recipe in Doris Ryan’s own words:
Doris Ryan’s Ketchup Recipe
Makes 5 quarts:
Day 1:
Cook .5 “heaped over” bushel of PEELED very ripe tomatoes (Doris advises no Roma tomatoes), 4 large sweet onions (Doris uses Spanish sweet or Vidalia), 4 large green bell peppers, and 6-8 banana peppers, until soft. You will know veggies are soft enough when the tomato “rinds” start coming out. Cook so as to have a nice steady boil.
Once soft, run mixture through a food mill for juice. Doris advises that your arm will get VERY tired but “you can’t hurry”. Let stand overnight.
Day 2:
Overnight the water and pulp will separate – take time to ladle out all the water you can get from the top. The more water you get out the better and easier it will be. Then, put juice and pulp in a large kettle and cook down to consistency you want. Doris advises 4-ish hours. Keep stirring often “because it will scorch or run over”. While it’s cooking add:
4 cups white sugar
1 quart apple vinegar
6 Tablespoons Barrel salt – * NOT Iodized
While waiting for the juice to reach consistency, put the following in a cheese cloth sack:
2 Tablespoons black pepper
2 Tablespoons dry mustard
2/3 teaspoons cloves (ground or whole)
2/3 teaspoons allspice
After about 4 hours or whenever the consistency is right, add the sack of ingredients to the juice in the kettle. Cook down until juice thickens, stirring often (Doris says at least 4 hours more). Stir the sack around often. Doris says you know its time to take the sack out “when it’s thick and it tastes good”.
Ladle into quart jars and can by cold pack method for 20 minutes.
Monroe County Master Gardener Association 
What a wonderful story! I can’t imagine why the recipe wouldn’t want you to use roma tomatoes. Many years ago, when I was young and foolish, I used to make “catsup” and always used romas but it was a big job; cooking/stirring, cooking/stirring. As I remember, I would get tired of it all and refrigerate it only to start cooking/stirring the next day … and the next. Your story sure makes me want to try it again though (now that I’m old and foolish)! I think I remember my recipe called for putting a diced, sour apple in and running it through a food mill with the tomatoes.
I have no idea why Romas are discouraged. It seems kind of a waste of effort to use a juicy tomato only to drain off the excess water, then have to cook it down even more. The only thing I can think is that (to my taste buds at least) a lot of the juicier tomatoes have more tangy flavor than the fleshier ones like Roma. It’s a mystery.
This year I also canned homemade ketchup, although a much smaller amount. I found this recipe in “Eating Local” by Janet Fletcher, which is a beautiful book that celebrates the new American small farm and CSA movement. Very unique recipes.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm Ketchup
5 pounds ripe red tomatoes
2 cups chopped onions
2 cups chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons kosher or sea salt
2 bay leaves
1 whole clove
1 teaspoon yellow mustard seed
1 teaspoon whole allspice
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
This is processed in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. I made it within one day and did not do many of the steps you outlined..just cooked it down before canning. Used several different kinds of tomatoes, but seeded and peeled them. I don’t have a food mill so I just processed lightly in a food processor to grind down the chunks. Makes 4 cups of ketchup. that’s plenty for little ole vegetarian me. Tastes great with oven baked sweet potato fries.
FYI: Maurine Sharp’s store, Health Matters, in downtown Monroe sells very fresh dried herbs and spices. You can buy what you need, like I did for this recipe. Great store!
I’m a buy it at the store kind of gal. But I have a few sister-in-laws that would truly enjoy these recipes. I’ll share them at our next family dinner. They’ll have to pay though with a jar for me to try.