Americans can proudly paint their patriotic barbecues ketchup-colored all summer long.
The tomato-based condiment has been a national favorite for 200 years and exudes an authentic American flavor.
Dr. James Meese, a scientist, author, horticulturist, civic activist, and Pennsylvania polymath from Philadelphia, Really He was a very intelligent man and also served as a military doctor during the war.
He also Really I loved “Love Apple,” which was his word for tomato.
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In 1812, Mies first created what we know today as ketchup.
“Dr. Meese was certainly a prominent figure in Philadelphia during his lifetime,” Anthony DiGiovanni of the Pennsylvania Historical Society told Fox News Digital.
Dr. James Meese (1771-1846), the inventor of ketchup, of Philadelphia, was a prominent author and intellectual who wrote voluminously on a wide range of subjects, and first published a recipe for tomato ketchup in 1812. Oil on canvas by Thomas Sully, 1834. (Thomas Sully/Public Domain)
“He dabbled in many things and wrote prolifically on every subject, from medical treatments, to Philadelphia pattern farming, to vineyards, even navigation and ocean currents,” DiGiovanni said.
Meese was a patriot and a confident defender of the new nation.
It was only fitting that he gave the people he loved and served the condiment they loved most of all.
New countries, new flavors
James Mease was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 11, 1771, and is a son of John and Esther (Miller) Mease.
“He wrote extensively on medical treatments, Philadelphia pattern farming, vineyards, and even navigation and ocean currents.”
His father was a prominent merchant and patriot who served in the Philadelphia Light Cavalry, a cavalry militia, during the American Revolutionary War.
In 1775, the Philadelphia Light Cavalry accompanied Virginia General George Washington when he traveled north to command a ragtag army of New England militiamen surrounding the British forces in Boston.
The Philadelphia Hussars, 1775. Publisher: Harper’s Publishing, New York. Author: Edward Penfield (c 1890-1907). (Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images)
The Meese brothers studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and in 1792 took the name Dr. Meese.
He followed in his father’s footsteps and served his country as a surgeon in the War of 1812, America’s Second War for Independence.
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His intellectual interests were far-reaching and not limited to the human body.
“Dr. Mies was not particularly active in the affairs of his profession,” historian Henry Simpson wrote in his 1859 biographical collection, Lives of Notable and Deceased Men of Philadelphia.
Summer garden-ripened tomatoes. Dr. James Meese, the Philadelphia scholar and horticulturist who invented ketchup, called them “apple lovers.” (Dragan Popovic/Alamy Stock Photo)
Mies wrote, edited or contributed to major intellectual works and reference works, and was particularly passionate about horticulture and agriculture, producing more food for the growing nation.
According to his online profile from the Pennsylvania Historical Society, Meese “was a prominent member of the Philadelphia Agricultural Advancement Association.”
He was “a prominent member of the Philadelphia Agricultural Promotion Association.”
At the time, Americans grew up on a ketchup-like condiment that Meese spelled “Ketsup.”
The sauce was similar only in pronunciation to the ketchup he introduced to the world, and was an exotic, foreign flavor in Europe and the American colonies in the 1700s.
Fresh homemade ketchup with tomatoes, onions, hot chillies, sweet red Kapuja peppers, garlic, bay leaves and spices. (Alina Janina Ciobanu/Alamy Stock Photo)
“The condiment, which sounds similar to ‘ketchup,’ likely originated in China,” Smithsonian magazine reported in 2018. “It likely started as a fish-based sauce.”
Other versions have been made with anchovies, mushrooms, walnuts and wine.
As the sauce crossed language barriers, more spellings emerged, including ketchup and kachaap.
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“Kachap” was a condiment in need of an identity.
Mies knew just the right fruit for the job.
I love apples and brandy
According to the Pennsylvania State Historical Society, among his many intellectual and social interests, Mies was one of the proprietors of the Grape Improvement Company, where he developed vinegar.
A British woman pours ketchup onto a barbecue burger cone with candied bacon and dill gherkin ripple ice cream, created specially for the first-ever National Burger Day event in London. (Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty Images)
This position reflected, or perhaps inspired, his interest in the popular fruit of viticulture.
I love apples.
The phrase is little used today, but “Love Apple” was in common usage for centuries after Christopher Columbus first landed in the New World in 1492.
“China is likely the origin of this condiment that sounds like ‘ketchup’.”
The “Columbian Exchange” that followed dramatically revolutionized cuisine around the world, with the Western Hemisphere introducing many new foods for the first time, including the apple.
The Old World was suddenly bombarded with foods from the Americas, including the tomato, which Europeans believed to have aphrodisiac properties.
A depiction of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas in 1492. Following Columbus’s landing, a dramatic revolution in food culture took place. The Old World first discovered tomatoes in the New World, along with many other examples. Chromolithograph by Louis Prang and Company. (Getty Images)
The French named the tomato pomme d’amour – “Apple of Love”
From the same Romance root comes the Italian word for tomato, a word familiar to any American who has ever picked up tomato sauce off a supermarket shelf. Pomodoro.
According to the 1996 book “Pure Ketchup: The History and Recipes of America’s National Condiment” by Andrew F. Smith, Meese first mentioned the Love Apple in 1804.
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According to Smith, Meads claimed that Love Apples could be used to make “a great ketchup.”
In 1812, the doctor published the first recipe for tomato ketchup.
“Slice the apple thinly and sprinkle each layer with a little salt,” Meese writes in his book, Archives of Useful Knowledge, Volume 2.
A young boy sits in a restaurant booth putting ketchup on his hamburger in the 1960s. The first recipe for tomato ketchup was published in 1812. By the late 1800s, it had become America’s most common condiment. (Photomedia/Classic Stock/Getty Images)
He continued, “Cover and leave for 24 hours. Then mix well and simmer in a bell-shaped metal saucepan for 30 minutes, adding mace and allspice. When it has cooled, add two fresh shallots, cut into small pieces, and half a jill of brandy to a bottle. Cork the bottle tightly and store in a cool place.”
Mies ketchup has a long shelf life and its tartness adds a vibrant flavour to bland foods, yet it’s not overpowering enough to go with any dish.
It exploded as a national phenomenon after the Civil War.
Ketchup gained popularity over the next few decades, primarily as an easy-to-make homemade condiment.
After the Civil War, it exploded into a national phenomenon, thanks to the man whose name appears on the refrigerator of nearly every American home today.
Heinz ketchup is displayed on shelves at a Walmart Supercenter in Austin, Texas on August 2, 2023. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Henry John Heinz improved the recipe, making ketchup especially sweet, in 1876. He patented it, His iconic Heinz bottle 1882.
He also spelled his product “Ketchup” to distinguish it from the ketchup that was common in the 19th century.
Ketchup is here to stay.
According to an online report from NPR, the New York Tribune in 1892 declared that tomato ketchup was “serving on every dinner table throughout the country.”
“Intelligent, dedicated and thoughtful”
Dr. James Meese died on May 14, 1846, and was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. He was 74 years old.
Dr. James Meese (1771-1846) of Philadelphia. Silhouette of ink painting, chalk, and cut-out on paper. Meese, a prominent Philadelphia citizen, invented tomato ketchup in 1812. (Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery/Public Domain)
“He passed a long and active life among our ranks, and contributed greatly to his own honor and the interests of his fellow citizens,” Simpson wrote in Lives of Notable Philadelphia Men.
His wide-ranging intellect was celebrated by various intellectual institutions, including the American Philosophical Society and the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, and he is today an iconic figure in the world of numismatics, or coin collectors.
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Mies’s extensive works are housed on both sides of the American continent, at Duke University in North Carolina and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
“Taken together, these documents paint a picture of a remarkably intelligent, dedicated and thoughtful man,” reports the Pennsylvania State Historical Society.
Football fan Ken “Pinto Ron” Johnson has ketchup poured over him before the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins game at Highmark Stadium on October 1, 2023 in Orchard Park, New York. (Brian Bennett/Getty Images)
His ketchup continues to captivate people more than 200 years later: According to industry data, the average American consumes an incredible 11 pounds of ketchup per year.
Ketchup accents burgers, hot dogs, fries and pizza, and has evolved into the American version of what the French call “mother sauce.”
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Ketchup is also the basis for many other condiments: shrimp cocktail, barbecue, sweet and sour, and Utah fry sauce all have ketchup as their base.
Same goes for Thousand Island dressing.
“Ketchup is certainly an American staple, with a bottle in 97% of households, but it’s also incredibly popular around the world and used in a variety of surprising ways,” Smithsonian magazine reported in 2018.
Philadelphia physician Dr. James Meese (center) invented tomato ketchup in 1812. (Dragan Popovic/Alamy Stock Photo, Thomas Salley/Public Domain, Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty Images)
According to the magazine, in Lebanon and Poland it’s put on pizza, in Japan it’s mixed with pasta, and in Germany it’s mixed with curry powder to add flavour to street sausages.
The son of an American Revolutionary War veteran, who served during the war himself and dedicated his life to the betterment of his country, Meese, a brilliant man, created more than just a condiment.
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He transformed the love apple of the Western Hemisphere into a global ambassador for the United States.
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