Ketchup: Asian origins?

I'm sure you all have a ketchup pot inside your fridges. This sauce, maybe the most common sauce in the world, has a fascinating and complicated history. Some food historians agree the first clues concerning ketchup were found in Southeast Asia. Others believe that the word "ketchup" was borrowed from Chinese, too.
But, how is this possible? How could the major representative American food have its origins in China? Well, although tomato didn't arrive to China till the 16th century, Asian people used specific ingredients which flavored that condiment; by mixing these ingredients, they probably obtained a similar flavour to that of ketchup.



- What does the word ketchup mean?
When the word ketchup was established, it was referred to something very different from the bottled tomato sauce of today. In the 17th century, tomatoes were an expensive meal, and the ketchups were long-keeping, vinegary sauces flavoured with lemons, onions, and so on.

-What about American ketchup?

"The word 'ketchup' conveys an image of the thick, sweet, tomato-based condiment. Americans did not invent ketchup, which was not thick, sweet, or made from tomatoes. British explorers, colonists, and traders came into contact with the sauce in Southeast Asia, and when they returned to Europe, they attempted to mimick it. As soybeans were not grown in Europe, British cooks used substitutes like anchovies or mushrooms. British colonists brought ketchup to North Ameirca, and Americans continued experimenting, using a variety of additional ingredients, including beans and apples. The truth is that Tomato ketchup may have originated in America.

-Ketchup, catchup, or catsup?
Ketchup is among the few commonly eaten products with no agreement in spelling. Ketchup, catchup or catsup are words that continue to be used today. Some researchers have paid attention to this matter, and one of them, Isaac Riley, an American, in his book called: "The Universal Receipt Book", believed that ketchup was the correct spelling. According to him, the other two names were vulgarizations.