foodvents #1: heinz-falutin'.

hey, so real quick...occasionally, i find myself at food events & eat a bunch of stuff & would love to give said gluttony a writeup now & again, but the tale doesn't usually fit into any of my existing columns. sayonora to that worry. the upside for you is that you get to enjoy this TOTALLY NEW, TOTALLY EXPERIMENTAL new column, where i go to food events & eat food & vent & yeah...FOODVENTS. [rim shot].

...so last week, i was kind of a high roller. i'm not really one who goes to press events & all but a kind blog buddy named amanda (read her blog yeah you're welcome or die, bitches) turned me on to a TOTALLY EXCLUSIVE heinz ketchup event going on in the city. i was all "hellz yeah. i love me some heinz ketchup." plus, eat!drink!snack! has NOT been giving ketchup its propers. three plus years & one ketchup post (about herr's ketchup chips) prior to this one? unacceptable. anyway. next thing i knew, it was an early evening on a thursday & i was knee deep in ketchup & ketchup-related items.

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nosh nook #60 - friday, june 5, 2009

ketchup: red menace or culinary saviour? (link)
06.03.09 - the vancouver sun - by shelly fralic

i have this one friend who's always had a thing for ketchup. recently, she's been sort of cheating on ketchup with sriracha sauce, but she & ketchup are still BFFs & stuff. there are a lot of folks like her out there. they grew up on ketchup & although they might stray & occasionally use other sauces, they'll always have an addiction/special spot in their heart for ketchup. personally, i enjoy putting ketchup on things as much as the next guy, but i can take it or leave it.

unfortunately, not everyone's had a chance to develop a lifetime love of ketchup. the vancouver sun's shelley fralic is one such person. as she explains, she grew up in a junk food-free home in south vancouver, a home where ketchup, barbecue sauce & other such flavor enhancers were thought of as a way to cover up sub-par cooking. it wouldn't be that big of a deal except for the fact that after finland, canada consumes more ketchup than any other country--2.5 liters per year.  it's like being the only bald guy in a room full of afros.

fralic answers the one question i had--without ketchup, what did she dip her fries in? the answer: malt vinegar & mayo. i've heard of using both as fry dips, but can't imagine dipping my fries in either. if i'm not using ketchup, i'm using ranch or sweet & sour sauce. eventually, fralic's mother relented & ketchup worked its way into their house, as sauces became a more-widely accepted part of cooking.

as far as ketchup goes, it's so versatile that you can even use it in non-meatloaf baking.  although fralic hasn't tried it herself, at the end of her article, she offers up a recipe for "heinz ketchup cake," which is apparently quite similar to carrot cake.  the idea sort of frightens me, but maybe one day when i have a bad case of the munchies, i'll whip one up.  until then, i'll restrict my ketchup use to french fry dipping.