Sunday, July 23, 2006

Pass the Ketchup, Please...

...but not the Heinz! I have found a ketchup that tastes like the ketchup I remember as a child. The other day I bought a bottle of Trader Joe's organic ketchup, and I will never buy Heinz again! I have a half-full bottle of the stuff in my fridge, but I doubt I'll use it up...

First of all, although I know this doesn't always guarantee a better product, Trader Joe's ketchup is organic. Secondly, just compare the ingredients:

Trader Joes:
Organic tomato puree, organic sugar, salt, organic white vinegar, organic onion powder, organic spices.

Heinz:
Tomato concentrate made from red ripe tomatoes, distilled vinegar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup*, salt, spice, onion powder, natural flavoring.

*Not JUST high fructose corn syrup, but more corn syrup as well!

Third, looking at the appearance of each ketchup:

Trader Joe's is thick, and dark red like vine-ripened tomatoes, while Heinz' is watery and thin, and a lighter more orangey red color like the tomatoes that go to the store green and then ripen on the shelf.

Fourth is the most important comparison, and that's taste:

Heinz is sharp, sweet, and a tad metallic even. The vinegar bites, and the texture is just like it looks...bland and smooth.

The first thing I taste with the Trader Joe's ketchup is...tomato! It's tangy, spicey and tomatoey. There's actually a texture...like pureed tomatoes. When I pour it out on the spoon, it doesn't spread out in a weak watery puddle. It pours out in a thick dark red blob.

So there you have it - my first taste comparison. I'm happy to have found one more way to eliminate high fructose corn syrup from my diet, and it's nice to be able to do so in such a tasty way...now pass the fries, please!

7 comments:

Denise said...

Trader Joes eh? I keep hearing good things about this place. We'll be in Seattle - but I'm not sure I'll be able to meet up with you, it's a quick trip. I'll email ya -
Cheers, Denise

Tink said...

After that review you better hope I can find it in my grocery store too! Otherwise I'm going to be soooo disappointed. :)

Thien-Kim aka Kim said...

Okay, you've convinced me. I'll try some of TJ's ketchup. But I just bought a huge bottle of Heinz!

Anonymous said...

Good to know. I didn't realize TJ made their own ketchup. TJ anything is just better.

Jay said...

I'm not a big ketchup peson, but I would be interested in tasting Trader Joe's now. I have been getting interested in organic stuff. Do they have a website? I'll look for it.

graymama said...

You should check out Chef Kev's home made recipe here. It is delicious!!!

One Crabapple said...

Well SOME BUDDY sent me theee most brilliant swap package !!!

But who???

laughing

I had to track down the anonymous gift giver that turns out to be right here at Sassy Says !

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE MY AQUA AND BROWN PACKAGE

Talk about Spoiling a Stranger (and while you have been so sick too !)

I will try to be worthy because I am tickled thru and thru over the care you took in packaging each thing. The stamping you did , the wonderful purse card.

Let's go back and say PURSE CARD again !
Ohhhh , out of everything this is my favorite. I think that is adorable and it will get a special show off place in my home you can be sure.

Everyone that comes in I will say "Oh have you seen my new little Purse Card ?"

and they will reply "YessssSSS Sandy ! You have shown us the Purse Card about twenty times now!"

But I will just show them again and ignore any looks of "here we go again"

I love this and I loved the wrapping and stamping second best of all.

You went to town! And I am feeling like it was my birthday ! Thank you for taking so much time and effort with shopping and detailing. Not one thing was lost on me even if I miss mentioning it or putting it in the blog.

oh and if you are wondering ? YES I will definitely be embarrassing you over not putting in a card to let me know who you were !

I love everything S.

and I say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU !
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOX

You made my day and I am sure earned some points for getting Angel Wings.

Enjoying your blog so much - putting some details to the Unknown Gift Giver.

Hope you are feeling much better these days.
Love, S.