Ketchup is incredibly easy to make, and tons better than that sickly sweet stuff you buy at the store. Tangy and delicious, I rate this recipe a must try. I have had it without the fish sauce- it is wonderful this way as well, but then you have to add more salt.

KETCHUP
3 cups canned tomato paste, preferably organic
1/4 cup whey
1 Tablespoon sea salt
1/2 cup maple syrup (I've also used honey)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed (I've also substituted garlic powder)
1/2 cup fish sauce (get the cookbook for the recipe, or buy at an Asian food store)

Mix all ingredients until well blended. Place in quart sized, wide mouth mason jar. The top of the ketchup should be at least 1 inch below the top of the jar. Leave at room temperature for about 2 days before transferring to refrigerator. (recipe from Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon).

Please note: This is your Grandma's ketchup, and it is not tame. Treat it with care, like the wild animal it is, or will the consequences may suprise you. Here's an excerpt from my blog, written the day after The Ketchup Incident.

"Do you remember when I told you about how we fermented our own ketchup? And how much better it is than storebought ketchup? Not only is it better, it also different. For instance, if you leave storebought ketchup upside down, draining the last little bits of ketchup toward the bottom, and then forget to put it away overnight, it does not, the next morning launch itself off the dining room table exploding ketchup all over the table, children, walls, and curtains as if we have had a Sabbath day visit from that heathen Attila the bloody massacring Hun, leaving in its aftermath a group of delighted red-speckled children who will not soon forget the effects of fermentation, gasses, and buildup of pressure."