The prize on your fries: Up your ketchup game with fun artisan versions

“I have to think it was someone’s happy accident,” says Heberto Segura, of who came up with the idea of ketchup on fries.

Segura, chef/owner of Duck & Drake Kitchen (1215 Edgewater Drive in Orlando), makes some of my favorite fries in the city. Duck-fat fries, to be specific. And though he serves them in various incarnations, a smattering of sea salt is all these things need to sing.

“Anywhere in the world you go there are french fries in some way, shape or form,” notes the chef whose humble trailer has been serving elevated fare in its years-long residency at Digress Wine in Orlando’s College Park neighborhood. “It doesn’t matter how they are cut, but when you fry something as simple as a potato, you transform it into something that is just so homey and so comfortable.”

Duck & Drake Kitchen is killing it in College Park

Segura’s are no exception. A crisp exterior gives way to the near-creamy carbo-bomb within. Ketchup, he notes, is a natural pairing, a celebration of comfort. And that works for this story since it’s coming to you courtesy of National Ketchup Day (June 5).

“It’s got a very ‘umami’ type of flavor,” says Segura. “Sweetness. Tanginess. A little sour from the vinegar. All of it pairs so well with the creaminess and earthiness that you get from a potato.”

It’s an all-American condiment, the tomato version of which was invented in 1812. But historians have traced its earliest ancestor back to China, where it began its life as a salty fermented fish sauce in roughly 200 B.C.

Eventually, as the world grew smaller, these pastes began to proliferate along trade routes, but as the recipes morphed through versions that used everything from oysters to celery to mushrooms where the main ingredients were stewed down and blended with salt and spices into long-lasting and oft pungent concoctions.

Tomatoes ended up in the mix eventually — they were called “love apples” around that time; which means the earliest ketchup was considered something of an aphrodisiac. Eventually, Heinz got into the game, creating a new iteration using vinegar and brown sugar and it became a bestseller, which it remains today.

Ketchup’s ubiquity, however, came several decades later, with the advent of fast food. The condiment’s love affair with burgers, hot dogs (sorry, Chicago, but a lot of folks dig it), and, of course, fries is still going strong.

“I think when you drag a nicely salted potato through a smooth ketchup, it just kind of elevates and enhances it,” says Segura. So, too, can ketchup be elevated.

“Making ketchup from scratch is a very simple thing,” Segura notes.

“It’s just cooking down the ingredients,” he explains. “Traditionally, the foundational ingredients would be tomato, sugar, vinegar and then you simply enhance those flavors with other things — Worcestershire sauce, a little Tabasco, maybe mustard — you don’t even have to use tomatoes.”

Segura’s made several different versions for use with dishes coming out of Duck & Drake and for the ticketed cellar dinners he does out of Digress. Mushroom ketchup made with the local wares of Fungi Jon. Carrot ketchup that takes the rich sweetness of this bright root vegetable and transforms it into something tangy-tasty-terrific.

For those looking to level up with less effort, mixing new ingredients with the stuff in your fridge is a life hack.

“You can use Sriracha, curry powder or paste, flavored vinegars … I once added jerk to ketchup and that turned out delicious.”

With The Drake, a new brick-and-mortar by Duck & Drake Kitchen slated for a downtown opening around August, a shortcut might even sound good to a chef like Segura, who may be reaching for the fries more often considering the stress of bringing a new business on line.

“It doesn’t matter what you’re doing,” he says, dreamily, “you get a nice bowl of crispy, salty fries, a little ketchup. It just puts you at peace.”

Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group or follow @fun.things.orlando on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Carrot Ketchup
Yields 4 cups.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon oil, blended

• 3 cups carrots — scrubbed, ends off, rough chopped.

• 1 cup onions, peeled and diced

• 2 cloves garlic

• 2 ounces fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

• 1 tablespoon salt

• 1 tablespoon white pepper

• 1⁄2 cup apple cider vinegar

• 1⁄2 cup water

• 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

• 2 teaspoons ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon ground coriander

• 3 ounces olive oil

Directions

1. In sauce pan, heat oil over medium-high heat

2. Add carrots and onions and saute, tossing and turning for about 1 minute.

3. Add garlic, ginger, salt and pepper and cook for about 30 seconds.

4. Add vinegar, water, sugar and ground spices, bring to boil, then lower heat to medium. Cook uncovered for about 15 minutes until carrots are very tender.

5. Remove from the heat. Allow to cool slightly.

6. Blend in batches in a high-speed blender, adding in the olive oil, and strain through a fine-mesh sieve.

7. Place in jars and allow to fully cool before storing in the refrigerator.

Mushroom Ketchup
Yields 4 cups.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon oil, bended

• 3 cups mushrooms (preferably dark in color, such as portabellos, baby bellas, black pearls), brushed, roughly chopped

• 1 cup shallots, peeled cut in half

• 2 cloves garlic

• 2 ounces ginger, peeled and sliced

• 1 tablespoon salt

• 1 tablespoon white pepper

• 1⁄2 cup Balsamic vinegar

• 1⁄2 cup Port wine

• 1⁄2 cup water

• 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon ground allspice

• 2 teaspoons ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon ground coriander

• 3 ounces olive oil

Directions

1. In a saucepan, heat blended oil over medium-high heat

2. Add mushrooms and shallots and saute, tossing and turning for about 1 minute.

3. Add garlic, ginger, salt and pepper and cook for about 30 seconds

4. Add vinegar, wine, water, sugar and ground spices. Bring to a boil, lower to medium heat. Cook uncovered for about 15 minutes until vegetables are very tender.

5. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

6. Blend in batches in a high-speed blender, adding in the olive oil, and strain through a fine-mesh sieve.

7. Place into jars and allow to fully cool before storing in the refrigerator.