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.
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Monroe County Master Gardener Association 