This is still tomato season in most Amish gardens, as plump, juicy ruby-red varieties give the garden a blaze of color. Â This is a photo of an Amish woman's"Victorio strainer" at work, a hand-cranked contraption that does an amazing job at straining fruits and veggies.This is a challenging recipe from an Amish woman in Navarre, Ohio. Â The ingredients sound amazing, but the instructions are a bit sparse. I'm sure the Amish author knows exactly what she is doing, so she didn't feel a need to write it all out in great detail. Â I decided that I'll share it exactly as she wrote it, that way readers who are familiar with this type of recipe will likely be able to decipher it. Anyone brave enough to give it a try? Â As noted, it really does sound good!
- 1 bushel ripe tomatoes
- 1 /2 cup salt
- 1 /2 cup pickle spice mix
- 6 medium onions
- 1 large mango
- 10 cups white sugar
- 1 /2 cup cornstarch
- 1 cup water (scant)
- 2 1 /4 cup white vinegar
- Slice unpeeled tomatoes as for table use and put in a crock in layers. Â Sprinkle each layer with salt ending with salt. Â Place a light weight on them. Â Let stand 5 days and drain off the liquid each day. Â On the 6th day, drain very well and run through colander. Â Tie spices in a bag and put in pulp and cook for 45 minutes. Â Take cornstarch and water and make a smooth liquid and add to catsup and cook about 10 minutes. I add cornstarch enough till the right thickness. Â Note: the tomatoes will have a bad odor when putting them through the colander, but they are alright.
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Barb Wright
I have made catsup for years..but never the fermented kind. My Grandma did,however. It was very good. The final cooking kills any bad bacteria,so it won't make you sick. Alot of old recipes use the fermentation process. I have a Victorio..they are irreplaceable when canning! Actually,on the box it says "Waynio" on one side. Some 20 years ago when it was new,my kids called it that to tease their dad..Wayne. I covered the real name and it is still covered. Now the grandkids tease grandpa!!
kentuckylady717
Lovina sure is a better woman than I am.....this looks like it is hard work....there is no way I would make ketchup.....you can buy ketchup in the store for a dollar.....I'm sure they would say it isn't as good as what she makes.....they probably have been raised on homemade ketchup and I assume it is better....but way too much work for me 🙂 Good for you Lovina......just don't work too hard.....
Wendy
I've never heard of fermented catsup before. It sounds intriguing, and I've heard lots about the health benefits of fermented foods. It makes me wish I had a garden full of tomatoes to try it with! The mango was also a surprise. Any idea how much this would make?
JoEllyn Yoder
Just in case some may not know, by mango I believe she means green pepper. My grandmother used to call green peppers mangoes. I never realized it until I was living on my own and wanted to make her sweet and sour coleslaw recipe. The card said 2 mangoes, I was thoroughly confused until I called my mom and she explained.
Kevin
JoEllyn,
Thanks for the clarifying that for others. I was going to make that clarification, but forgot to. Yes, calling peppers "mangoes" seems to be a midwestern USA thing....although putting a real fruity mango into homemade catsup might give it a tropical splash!:) - Kevin
Diana H
As a youngster growing up here in Southwestern Ohio, most adults called
green bell peppers mangoes. As our food world broadened, we learned
that a mango is a tropical fruit and also quite delicious. So, whichever kind
of mango is used in the recipe, I am sure it would be delicious. (I can't
quite imagine taking a whole week to make a batch of ketchup, no matter
how delicious it might be)
Debbie from Ky
I've always wanted to make catsup, but by the time I make all my tomtao juice, canned tomatoes and spaghetti sauce for year (not to mention all that we EAT) there never seems to be enough to spare. And we usually grow 30 tomato plants, not enough room for more as I like my other veggies as well. This is an intresting recipe tho...not sure I like the idea of smelly tomatoes tho. 😉 Anxious to hear if anyone tries this.