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[[File:TT Włocławek.png|thumb|upright|Strawberry and and red-currant-flavoured ketchups made in Poland. Source: Twitter.]]
In August last year, a Polish news portal published an article entitled [https://finanse.wp.pl/truskawkowy-keczup-od-firmy-wloclawek-internauci-w-szoku-6412050532366465a "Strawberry Ketchup from Włocławek: Internet Users Shocked".] As usual in modern journalism, the article was based entirely on two tweets. [https://twitter.com/michaljadczak/status/1160165241117970432 One of them,] by Mr. Michał Jadczak, was contained a picture of two red plastic bottles with labels reading, in Polish, "Ketchup with strawberries" and "Ketchup with red currants". The pictured was captioned: "Scandal! Sacrilege! The end is nigh..:/". Many Twitter users confirmed in their comments that they were shocked by the news that the fuits fruits of a plant other than tomato were added to ketchup. Some linked this scandal with the momentous fact that Włocławek -brand ketchup is actually no longer made in the town of Włocławek.
If you, too, are shocked by strawberry ketchup, then what would you say to mushroom ketchup? Or walnut ketchup? Oyster ketchup, anyone? It turns out that the origin of this condiment is no less ancient than that of mustard, but while we would easily recognize ''mustum ardens" '' from centuries ago as mustard, we would be hard pressed to recognize original ketchup as ketchup. It has come a long way to become the uniform, thick, red, sweet tomato sauce we know today.
Ketchup began its career somewhere in Southeast Asia as… fish sauce. It was originally made by salting fish blood and innards, as well as whole fish that were too small for any other use, and leaving the whole mess to ferment. The smell must have been overwhelming, but only at the beginning of the process. As the mixture was fermenting, the scent and the taste were becoming milder and more palatable. The liquid thus obtained was a natural source of monosodium glutamate; in other words, a kind of ancient Maggi seasoning. In the Chinese dialect spoken in northern Vietnam, this sauce was called "''kê-tsiap''".
