Since I started writing about food and cooking almost two years ago, I’ve only used what’s referred to as a P&S (point and shoot) camera – a Canon PowerShot SX200IS to be specific – and was damn proud of the photos I produced with my cute blue camera. I’ve always been a tiny bit envious of the sharp macro images and dreamy depth of field of images on other blogs, but was happy being the rebel 😉
Well no more! For my birthday, the Don gifted me with the Canon Rebel T2i with a Tamron macro lens. I’m excited, but apprehensive about the learning curve. I’m trying not to wimp out and resort to Old Faithful, but it is a little exasperating, here you are witness to my first attempts. *sigh* Please, if you have any helpful tips, leave me a comment, I would really appreciate it!
Let’s get to the recipe for today: homemade ketchup. It may not sound very exciting, but making your own special recipe ketchup is all the rage now. Ketchup is the quintessential American condiment and, while there are some foods that my family must eat with ketchup – like the typical burger, hot dog or fries; we’re certainly not one of those people who like ketchup slathered on everything. Two things inspired me – actually three – to concoct a gourmet ketchup. (1) an abundance of tomatoes* – of the three varieties we have, I thought the yellow Tangerine tomatoes would be perfect because of their natural sweetness and low acidity, (2) Don loves ketchup and even the organic brand I was buying had more sodium than he wanted, and (3) an LA Times Food feature with a recipe for homemade peach ketchup from Sang Yoon of Father’s Office – notorious for not serving ketchup with their famous burgers.
I decided to impart a tropical twist by adding roasted mango, some heat with the red peppers we have growing, and a touch of the exotic with crushed cardamom seed. And, as the mixture was cooking down I decided that a sauce might be more versatile – that’s how I roll, subject to change at any moment 😉 The ketchup turned Tomato Mango Sauce has proven to be very versatile – terrific as a marinade for pork tenderloin and chicken, drizzled on salads, and as a dipping sauce – and, most importantly, Don loves it and is asking for more!
Tomato Mango Sauce/Ketchup
8 medium sized yellow tomatoes
1 mango
6 clove garlic
½ cup light brown sugar
½ cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon ground cardamom seed
1 red hot cherry pepper, minced
salt to taste
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the tomatoes and mango in half, leaving the skin on.
2. Place tomatoes and mango cut side down on a rimmed cookie sheet lined with parchment. Wrap the garlic cloves in aluminum foil. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the skin is crinkly.
3. Set aside to cool, then peel the tomatoes and, using a spoon, scrape the mango flesh from the peel and the seed, discard the seed. Remove the garlic cloves from their skins. Pour the pan juices into a blender or food processor, add the peeled tomatoes, mango, and garlic. Puree until smooth.
4. In a large sauce pan, combine the sugar and vinegar. Whisk the mixture over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cardamom, ginger, and minced pepper, whisk to combine. Stir in the tomato mango puree, stir to blend. Cook, uncovered, over low heat for about 30 minutes to thicken, stirring occasionally. For ketchup, cook for another hour or so until desired consistency is achieved.
Enjoy 🙂
* Ketchup does not have to be tomato based, actually ketchup (or catsup) was brought to Britain in the 1600s by traders from China and Malaysia where the brine from pickled fish was used as a dipping sauce. Affluent Brits were served dishes with the rich brines from pickled walnut and mushrooms. Eventually, they began bottling these condiments, calling them catsup. Catsup came with British settlers to Colonial America and it wasn’t until the mid-nineteenth century that entrepreneurs began tinkering with the recipe to suit the American taste for sweet foods and sold catsup made with tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, cayenne, and salt. Its popularity took off when Heinz company added tomato catsup to their condiment line in the 1870s – so there you have your history of ketchup.
Edit: 8/27/12 Featured on Huffington Post Taste ‘s slideshow of homemade ketchups. Thank you!
Priscilla,
This tomato “ketchup” is not only gorgeous in color but sounds absolutely delicious!!! You are right – sauces like this are so versatile, it’s amazing all the things you can do with them so it definitely justifies the time and effort it takes to do it!!
The photos are very, very good for your first attempt with your new camera – you’ll be a pro before you know it!!
Thanks, Nancy!! What is life if you don’t keep learning and challenging yourself 🙂 I’m making another batch of sauce with the last of the yellow tomatoes.
Hey Congrats on the new camera, very nice and generous husband;-)
Have fun learning, your photos look great!
I might like to make homemade tomato ketchup and with mango, sounds good to me;-)
Thanks, Patty! Yes, I’m a lucky girl! I think you’d like having your own special recipe ketchup 🙂
Welcome to the world of the digital SLR. You are doing a wonderful job with your first photos. Awesome. You will soon have a new faithful-your Cannon.
The tomato mango ketchup is a really nice twist on traditional ketchup. Love it.
Velva
Thanks, Velva 🙂 Hopefully, I’ll be as comfortable with my new camera as I am with my P&S!
Congrats on your new camera! Loving this ketchup with mango and cardamom, excellent!
Thanks, Natasha. I’m in love with cardamom now, I know it’s popular in Scandinavian baked goods and Eastern cuisines, but this was my first time using it!
Just be patient with your new Canon and you will be fine. Best is to get used to manual settings and experiment on different lighting, and angles. Take lots of shots, I take hundreds sometimes. Also, you may want to use a program called lightroom photo processing software. I’d love to talk about my experience with my Canon and my lenses but I don’t want to fill up your comment box. 🙂 Just email me if you have questions, Priscilla. Have Fun!
~ ray ~
Thanks for the tips, Ray! I know a lot of other photographers – food and otherwise, that use Lightroom. I’ll be emailing you soon 🙂
I love mango on this ketchup recipe! Must give it a try. Looks so tempting.
Have fun with your new camera!
Angie
Wow – can’t believe you only had a point and shoot before. I still have a lot to learn with my camera, I need to take a class! Reading the book just doesn’t help me!
Hi, Erin! There are several well known food photographers and stylists that put on workshops – I’ve never gone because I didn’t have an SLR, but now I most certainly will! Much more informative and fun!
This looks great Priscilla!! I can honestly say I have never seen or heard about anything like this. What an interesting ketchup. I mean really…way to put an awesome spin on the classic!
My hubby will never give up his beloved Heinz, but I’m all in favor of your lovely mango version. Good luck with your new camera! I know you’ll be giving the rest of us tips in a matter of weeks 🙂
Oh I just love the addition of mango in this! Definitely gotta try making my own ketchup soon =)
P.S. congrats on the new camera! I always try to learn something new about my camera every week or so, and a site I’ve found very helpful with my photography is http://www.learnfoodphotography.com!
What an interesting flavor combination.
Congratulations on the new camera…wow! Now I can come over and we can play photographers 🙂 Gorgeous idea for a ketchup, really looks fantastic!
Congratulations on your new camera! It is sooo exciting! I am sure there there will be little to no learning curve with your photos with as pretty as everything already was!
Your pictures are looking good! I’ve never tried making my own ketchup before – I like the tropical mango twist!
Congrats on a new camera..your photos always looked awesome, but I know how much better can be with little camera upgrade! It is all so exiting!
This ketchup sound so good, very flavorful and so new to me..I wish my kids would give up store brand, homemade is so much better!!
Enjoy your week and your new Camera(By the way Happy belated B-day!)