The Fancy Condiment Anthony Bourdain Wanted No Part Of

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Anthony Bourdain was known to be an opinionated man. He was outspoken about the foods and food habits that irked him, including his disdain for people who follow a vegan diet and his serious doubts about eating ground beef in restaurants on the suspicion that it was leftovers. Bourdain also had a strong take on "house-made ketchup", banishing it in favor of the bottled stuff. In an interview with Thrillist, he talked about bottled ketchup's "bone-deep flavor profile", which homes in on a specific nostalgia.

Bourdain was definitely onto something. In a 2020 survey by YouGov on America's favorite burger toppings, ketchup is the highest-ranked condiment on the list, with 65% of participants naming it as their favorite burger topping (mustard came in at 52%). According to Etymonline, usage of the word "ketchup" to exclusively mean "tomato ketchup" began as early as 1921. Other bottled ketchup types exist, like banana ketchup, the beloved Filipino version that might just be your new favorite condiment. And no, the first ketchup recipes didn't use tomatoes – they were made with fermented fish sauce. 

The tomato variety is what folks now tend to associate with ketchup, and has been a favorite ever since the Heinz company started mass-producing it in the late 1800s. It is the flavor of commercial ketchup that is so entrenched in our collective taste memory, prompting Bourdain to ask if house-made ketchup is "really better" than what is readily available on grocery store shelves.

Few dishes are as emblematic of Americana as a classic hamburger. A patty made of ground beef, nestled between two halves of a soft bun, dressed with a slice of melted American cheese, is a simple sandwich that's the choice comfort food of many. In Anthony Bourdain's view, bottled (not house-made) ketchup is the condiment that best complements a burger, proclaiming confidently in his book "Appetites" that "any sweetness in a burger should come from the ketchup alone", not even from caramelized onions.

Not even mayonnaise? "If you insist," Bourdain said in an interview with Insider Tech. "You have to ask yourself, is this thing I'm doing to this perfectly good classic dish, is it making it better?" That said, when Mashed polled Americans on the best condiment to put on a burger that's not ketchup, mayonnaise took the top spot at almost 39%. The fact that the question had to be phrased as such shows that ketchup is what belongs, and it's what the people — including Anthony Bourdain — want. The burger is a simple food, and at the end of the day, simple food is what Bourdain loved to make and eat with his family and friends.