I have never liked ketchup. As anyone who knows me can attest to, I usually have a violent reaction to it's presence. I have tasted it - albeit on accident - and it assaulted my tastebuds almost as much as the foul smell of it offends my nose. But this morning I came to realize what ketchup represents.
I made my brunch based on something my uncle in Arizona treated my travel buddy and I to one morning. The Perfect Breakfast Burrito.
As I was adding sweet roasted peppers and fresh basil to my eggs I was thinking how my brother would make it. Just cook the eggs plain. No peppers. No herbs. Then dump gallons of ketchup over it.
Hmm.
The point of the fresh basil (which I'm having a memory recall smell as I write this) is to flavor the eggs. The roasted red peppers? Same. I also added some fried potatoes and ham strips. Now that you're all over thinking either how good that sounds or how bad that is for you - think about what it is for: FLAVOR.
All these flavors coming together in the grand symphony that was my meal. No sauce was necessary because it flavored itself.
This brings me back to ketchup. Why is it a representation of the downfall of civilization? Ketchup has no style. From what I've witnessed, food becomes merely the vehicle to transport the ketchup. It pretty much overwhelms the flavor of anything you're trying to eat, rather than enhance it. Cookie-cutter, generic, mass-produced, flavorless garbage that people are just shoving in their faces. Where is the subtlety, the style...the art? How about the effort for crying out loud?
Obviously ketchup is just one more thing that makes us less....civilized. Less humanity, more insanity.
You laugh now - but you just wait and see where ketchup leads us! sigh
5 comments:
When you're right, you're right.
Oh my...something else to worry about! heehee! ♥♥♥
I'm more a mustard girl, but I'm totally into condiments. Especially salsa and hummus. It's more of the texture to me. Yes, it's for flavor, but otherwise I find food too dry.
Although I can totally see what you mean about people "cooking" food just to feed their condiment addiction :)
I won't convince you that you should like ketchup, but I will argue that it isn't ALL just one flavorless mass produced sauce. In Portland there's a restaurant called Little Big Burger and they have ketchup that has quite a nice different flavor with some added spice. Of course I wouldn't say you should try it, because it still tastes like ketchup :) but it does taste different than the other 'big names' out there. And it adds to the fries quite nicely. :) Would you be willing to concede to that?
I'm off to visit Sweden and Finland this summer. It's been 30 years since I have been - when I was an exchange student in Helsinki.
Your post recalls my host-sister who spoke a gazillion languages and led tours in Europe and never traveled anywhere WITHOUT her bottle of ketchup.
I plan on bringing her one of the new small squeeze bottles.
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