Ketchup or Catsup?

One of the first things to get used to here in Indonesia is that ketchup is not ketchup, or at least not the same stuff as back home. Here ketchup is more what we would refer to as soy sauce. There are also two kinds of ketchup, manis and asin, which mean sweet and salty. Ketchup asin is similar to soy sauce in the US but still a little different. Ketchup manis is thick and sweet (also one of my favorites).

Do you think maybe they got it wrong? Not even close. Turns out ketchup is derived from an Indonsian (Malay) word for "fish sauce" that was carried back to Europe during the 1700's. It originally was used to refer to any sauce that contained vineagar, usually with soy. So, if anything, we got it wrong.

Here in Indonesia they do have a tomato based sauce but it is sweeter and has chili sauce in it as well. It is called Sambal. Everyone eats it on everything. Even at MacDonalds instead of ketchup dispensers, there are sambal dispensers. You have to ask for ketchup by the name "saus tomat" to get some.

Wanna learn more about the fascinating history of ketchup? Check out Answers.com on ketchup.