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What's the etymology of ketchup/catsup?

From:Danny Wier <dawier@...>
Date:Wednesday, July 12, 2000, 10:34
I should've thought about this while I was buying Mexican salsa.  Heinz has
recently invented and is now marketing a new kind of condiment -- green
ketchup.  Before you make a disgusted grimace, bear in mind that this is just
tomato ketchup made with green tomatoes.  Alongside red salsa you can get green
salsa, which is made with underripe and smaller tomatillas; they have a less
sweet, more sour-bitter flavor than the common red tomato.

Another missed opportunity to make some real money.  The kids are gonna love
it.  (And for all you fellow Cajuns, there's green Tabasco sauce, made from
milder jalapeño peppers as opposed to the very hot red (cayenne) pepper.)

Let's get to the point.  My question is natlang-related: what is the etymology
of "ketchup" or "catsup" (Hindi, right?), and why the two different spellings?
And I've seen recipes for non-tomato based ketchup; I remember a mushroom
ketchup.  Is there any relation to East Indian chutney?

(Techians use a REAL HOT condiment for anything from dipping fried plantain
chips to pepping up jerk chicken -- a mixture of habanero, jalapeño/chipotle,
cayenne/red and black pepper, ginger, soy sauce, tomato (red or green), papaya,
mango, banana, lime juice, tamarind, onion, garlic and cilantro/coriander,
which could be called Techian salsa.)

DaW.

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