Half the Okanagan Valley ketchup

As much as people poetically and lovingly extol the virtues of organic and homemade ketchup, there is a reason why Heinz is so popular and not easy to recreate at home. I know that most mass produced products lose some of their farm fresh, just made attractiveness, but when trying to make your own and balance the flavours, the truth is evident: Heinz came up with a pretty good formula and bottled it. The reason I say this is because I tasted a little of the original Heinz variety for comparison when making my own and realised there simply was no competition. The original had such depth and complexity, so much more sweetness and tartness to make mine taste bland and one dimensional, despite the millions of things I had put in it.

In truth, mucking around with a tried and tested classic too much can cause disaster. I wanted to use the bag of bell peppers I had bought at the Okanagan and so decided a mixed tomato and pepper ketchup would be a good idea, not to mention the carrots, celery, nectarine (yes, nectarine) and lone beet I decided to throw in.

In the UK and probably in North America, we have a different variation on the ubiquitous HP brown sauce called 'fruity' sauce. It always sounded like such a tasty variety, a little like chutney with all the tropical, sweet fruits giving an unusual and sunny feel to a more humble sauce. It seemed almost exotic and I think I was trying to recreate a cross between this and a plain ole' tomato ketchup. Like most good intentions, the reality never quite pans out and so my sauce began to taste a little too complicated, almost a mess of flavours with no discernible tastes coming through.

It was when I tasted the Heinz version for comparison that my heart began to sink. Hours of research, peeling, chopping, sauteing, boiling and blending seemed a waste of time. I had to stand for 40 minutes stirring the blended mixture as even the briefest respite resulted in a mini volcanic eruption, the mixture bubbling like a mud spring in Yellowstone park and violently spurting molten ketchup all over the hob and my hands, it even burnt my little finger. Was this all for nothing?

Perseverance prevailed and a handful of this, a few dashes of that seemed to be bringing more of a life and unity to the sauce. The rainbow coloured peppers I had desperately wanted to use were grilled and peeled, their sweet flesh revealed from beneath the tougher skin. I'm not sure if their presence was that noticeable in the final ketchup, but it felt good to know that I used them up.

The final ketchup seemed to hit the right notes, not exactly mind blowingly better than Heinz superior version, but sweet and tangy enough to work well on a burger or with some chips. Now I face another dilemma. Do I watch the ketchup sit in it's jar on the fridge shelf, getting neglected and ignored for months, the pride and feeling of self satisfaction of using up some ingredients usefully slowly slipping away in a haze of guilt ridden neglect? No, I will not. I am determined to use this ketchup as much as possible, starting with layering it on top of some home made burgers and using it as the base for a barbecue sauce. Watch this space.

Recipe : Tomato and bell pepper ketchup

This is a very basic description of what I used as I tweaked and fiddled so much I couldn't possibly be accurate. Like me, you will have to balance the flavours until you get something you like. It's up to you if you want to use a tried and tested ketchup to compare. You may prefer yours even.

3 tbsp olive oil and 2 tsp butter

1 onion, peeled and chopped roughly

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped roughly

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped roughly

2 carrots, chopped into chunks

1 stalk celery, chopped into chunks

1 beet, peeled and chopped into chunks

1 nectarine, chopped into chunks

6 Heirloom tomatoes, halved

1 tin plum tomatoes

6 bell peppers, cored and cut into halves

2 chili peppers, sliced

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/4 - 1/2 cup brown sugar

2 bay leaves

2 tbsp tomato puree 

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp celery and onion salt

1 tbsp chili powder

Place the cored and halved bell peppers on a baking sheet and grill (broil) until the skins are blackened. Remove and either slip them all into zip loc bags or cover with cling wrap to steam and make the skins easier to remove.

Heat the butter and oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat and add the next 11 ingredients and the bay leaves. Stir well, bring to the boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover.

Peel the peppers, slice the flesh and add to the other vegetables in the pan. Simmer everything gently, stirring occasionally for about 1 hour until the vegetables are soft and sweetened.

Add all the other ingredients, stir, cover and simmer again for about 15 minutes to allow the flavours to mingle together. 

Blend the mixture well in a processor or in a blender in batches and return to the pan.

Cover the pan and bring to a medium boil. It will spurt very violently and so remove the lid with caution, removing the pan from the heat to stir frequently to prevent burning. 

After maybe 40 minutes, the mixture should be thick and ketchup like. Blend again and taste. Do you like it? 

You can now start adding a little more of this or that to get a balance you like.