Tomato Ketchup - AIBU?

[poppincandy]

Look I appreciate in the grand scheme of things this is a pathetically small thing, but I'm just interested to get other people's perspective.

My dc are all very good eaters, and can sit and eat well in all environments, and on occassion other diners have commented on what lovely well behaved children they are.

So what's happened is - my son had a friend over who likes tomato ketchup with his chips, although in our family we do not have ketchup, we always have it in the cupboard for any visitors who would like it, along with coffee, salad cream, mustard etc.

Anyway my son does not eat chips (choice not diet), but fancied having the ketchup with the chicken he was having, he then said that he likes the taste of ketchup.

Roll forward to this evening, we go to a smart restaurant, my ds (5) orders sausage, mash, peas and gravy. When they serve the food, the asked whether we would like anything else and my ds pipes up 'Please may I have some tomato ketchup'. They bought it over no problem, but there was a part of me that was like 'Oh no don't go ruining every meal with ketchup, and it looks such a naff thing to do, in some establishments'.

Am I being a snob?

I suspect I am and BU.

Nip it in the bud! I hate it when people put ketchup on food before tasting it.. Drives me mad.. especially when I've cooked it!

ketchup and sausages, what's wrong with that? Am seriously that you would be stressing about this!

YABU a little bit (but caring and nice, obviously!)

I get fed up with my DC wanting to smother everything in ketchup too - not because I object to the ketchup but just becasue I get frustrated with his inability to just taste the meal and enjoy it for what it is.

Nutritionally, there is little difference in your child having a huge dollop of ketchup on their plate, or a glass of fresh orange juic (from concentrate) by the side of it. One is not better or worse than the other, and they both have benefits. Yes, ketchup is full of sugar, but it's also highly highly nutritious if you buy a good quality brand(concentrated amounts of lycopene)so unless they are drinking it by the pint I wouldn't object.

YABU, he's 5 for heaven's sake, it was with sausages and mash ('pub gub' even in a gastro pub), and he asked nicely. What more do you want?

Now, if you are talking about my ex-DH who smothers ketchup on cheese on toast, well that's a whole other matter...

Incidentally, do you MNetters out there who say ketchup 'goes' with some foods but not others have a view on when it is socially acceptable to have mint sauce, tartare sauce or mustard (is it different for English and Dijon, for example?)? What about brown sauce - is that ever socially acceptable?

zap Yes, by son is a terrible salad dodger, but he will eat sprouts and broccoli if he can dip them in ketchup. He really wouldn;t touch them otherwise. Some may but I don't care - I hardly ever offer a pudding, so as long the overall sugar content of his meal is not too high, so what?

well, if you mean me, I have no views on which sauce should be eaten with which food..each to his own condiment I say!

(x-posted, that was to Isawthreeships)

I would don my judgey-pants for an adult who puts ketchup on a roast dinner, or anything other than English/American style comfort grub and chips, yes, but horses for courses. I have a penchant for smothering spring greens in vinegar, even on a rosst dinner, so who am I to comment?

My DS has just grown out of a tomato allergy (hurray!!) and we have had ketchup every day this week. It didn't even occur to me that we are being a bit naff. I had forgotten just how good ketchup tastes and have just eaten a huge blob of it with my morning toast.

Greenbananas Step away from the bottle - slowly does you it - you can do it

We have ketchup when it is appropriate for the meal. If we have egg and chips, then we have ketchup on the table. If we have a roast dinner - no ketchup.

But to get the same amount of lycopene you'd have to eat tons and tons of tinned or fresh tomatoes, (which most children would not do) whereas good quality ketchup delivers a strong 'hit' in a relatively small dose. There is no point in getting too sniffy about the sugar unless you ban sugar in everything. Pointless to tut about the ketchup, but then offer them a sugar laden yogurt/fromage frais for pud on the basis that it's 'good' becasue it contains calcium. Same deal going on folks!

I let my daughter have ketchup and salad cream, without a guily thought about it, until now. Is salad cream evil too?

What ketchup "goes with" is not about snobbishness but about cultural norms (and a little bit about how it tastes).

You have horseradish with roast beef, apple sauce with roast pork, and bred sauce with roast chicken, not the other way around.

Def a bit snobby I'd say and so a healthy dash of U!

My mum always did and still makes a fuss if I want ketchup. There are certain meals I like it with, typically something with potatoes.

But it's just another condiment isn't it? For me it' not logical to think one condiment is fine and another isn't. Why is kethcup different to mustard, or horseradish, mango chutney, or sour cream, or gravy, or dare I say it a jus or a coulis?

Am most excited about the idea of ketchup being healthy tho, can't wait to tell my mum.

Married to someone who has ketchup with absolutely everything. I'm trying to persuade the kids that this is not necessary, but I feel it's a losing battle.
In all other ways he's fab, so ho hum :)

Wasn't singling you out, Fanjo!

I have a rather peculiar taste for horseradish sauce, for example, (even though I'm vegetariam) so it would be quite hypocritical of me to tell my DS to eat ketchup only with chips.

However, I do confess to personal snobbery when it comes to the whole salad cream v mayonnaise debate, so who am I to talk? Pots and kettles, pots and kettles.

Trillian - I'm vegetarian. Does that mean I'm not allowed apple sauce or horseradish anymore?

My life would not be worth living without horseradish...

Personally I think horseradish goes with roast potatoes no matter what you have with them. But I am a potato fiend and think the potatoes are the most important part of a roast dinner.

They all have their place - even salad cream is delish in certain circumstances, (like on mashed potato )and who are we to judge which circumstances are or are not ok? I think they only thing that is totally unacceptable is dowsing every food in copious amount of one substance, so everything tastes exactly the same. And it's insulting for the cook.

OK, so horseradish with roast potatoes. Tick.
Horseradish with curry = freak.

I digress. YAB a bit U Poppincandy. There's plenty of time to instill middle class snobbery teach your DS social conventions when he is older.

Horseradish in a bloody mary - yum!

But I thought I was meant to instill all these social conventions in him by the age of 5 - I thought I had achieved it then some brat delightful child who was dragged up raised in a loving family home where ketchup on chips was allowed crossed my threshold

Now you are talking trillian