Banana Ketchup

What on Earth is Banana Ketchup

I know, I know, strange, isn't it? At least I thought so, when I first read the words "banana" and "ketchup" used in the same phrase.

Curious, I decided to research this interesting food item, what it actually is, and what it's used for. What I found forever altered my perception of ketchup.

What Is it?

The Essential Ingredients List

Basically, banana ketchup is:
mashed bananas,
vinegar,
sugar,
spices (variable on personal taste).

The ratio of the ingredients varies greatly, along with the addition of a good deal of other ingredients. Some people add red food coloring to the condiment to make it look it tomato ketchup.

Most recipies seem to involve onions, garlic cloves, tomato paste, raisins, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, nutmeg and a wealth of flavor splicing.
Some recipes even call for dark rum! However, not all recipes use tomato, making a more banana flavored ketchup.

Recipies have been encountered where other fruit is combined with the bananas to create an even more unusual taste.

On The Origins of the Condiment

Where It Comes From and Where It is Now

A story goes that during the Japanese occupation of the Phillipines, American food wasn't availible, so the Filipinos came up with a creative alternative using the banana.

Sources on this beginning are skectchy as far as I've seen, but it is generally decided that banana ketchup did come from the Phillipines.

Later, in the 1950s, the new condiment started being produced in a mass form. Twenty years later, in the 70s, banana ketchup became used more widely.

Nowadays, you can find banana Ketchup being made in the West Indies, Hawaii, and (of course!) the Phillipines!

New Flickr Photos

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08-nov-30

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Finished product

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LOVETMDG

(86/365) :: Ketchup

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And You Put It On...?

What People Have Used It On

Pretty much whatever you feel like using it on... Just like ketchup!

In the phillipines, people use it on fried chicken, and a special kind of spaghetti: You use cheddar cheese and any certain types of sausage, like hot dogs or vienna sausage. The banana ketchup is used in place of the spaghetti sauce.

I'll have to try it some time and give you all a recipe!

Media Coverage

This shows banana ketchup on t.v, in the Phillipines.
...heheh...it's kinda funny, actually.

The Original Banana Ketchup

Commercial

Runtime: 0:49
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Lensmaster

Edwin wrote

Great Post!, I enjoy reading it.
It's a great way to start My Online Business!!.

Thanks,
Edwin
http://www.EdwinHarahap.com

Posted May 02, 2008

Lensmaster

IroOtoNe

Neat! That cameraman interviewer sounded a litte distressed, shall we say, at the woman's usage of banana on wood.... :) It looked like it worked thought!

Posted April 29, 2008

Lensmaster

MarineGrannyNanna

I should try this the nextime my grandkids are over!

Posted April 17, 2008

Lensmaster

WoodCraftsman wrote...

num-num nummy! What a culinary invention!

Posted April 16, 2008

Lensmaster

PoliticsPuzzleMe

Bananas..., and ketchup? Now this I've gotta try!