Page 4 - iAV Digital Magazine #391

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Ketchup Leather: The Condiment Revolution Is Finally Upon Us
No one wants to be in a situa- tion where they have to use the adjective "soggy" to describe their food, particularly if that food is an otherwise delicious, all- dressed burger.
Ernesto Uchimura, the lead chef for Plan Check restau-
rants, has a solution. The small chain of restaurants in Los Angeles specialize in gourmet burgers and Uchimura has created ketchup leather: a drier, flatter version of the popular tomato-based condiment to prevent any pos- sible sogginess.
"Ketchup leather's very simply dehydrat- ed ketchup," Uchimura tells As It Happens host Carol Off. "It dehydrates into sheets very similar to a fruit roll-up texture and consistency, but with a ketchup flavour, obviously."
Uchimura dehy- drates his ketchup using
low-heat ovens and fan sys- tem to create a rapid-evapora- tion process.
"The structure of the cells of the tomato product, plus the sugars and all the other sea- sonings, dehydrate and they form a very nice, even sheet," Uchimura explains.
When asked whether his prod- uct is comparable to the crusty, dried ketchup that col- lects on the top of the bottle, Uchimura insists, "It's kind of like that, but in a more con- trolled way and it's more palat- able."
Uchimura came up with the leather idea after trying to combat the soggy-bun prob- lem. He serves his signature burger on a panko-crusted bun and the leather helps pre- serve the crunchy texture.
"I've been cooking hamburg- ers for a long time and I always do fresh-ground. I always cook them medium rare," Uchimura explains. "I always found there's a lot juices that come out of the burger, so what this does is kind of help keep those juices at bay by absorbing them and rehydrating them."
The leather is primarily used as a burger condiment, but Uchimura occasionally experi- ments with other leather recipes.
"Sometimes I take a strip of it and I put french fries in it and I'll roll it up and eat it that way."
There is no mention of poten- tial mustard, relish or mayo leathers, but Uchimura says he would love to see his ketchup invention take off and expand into other restaurants.
"I sure hope it takes off," Uchimura explains. "I'm just happy to kind of create food and invent products that are functional for me and, if they so happen to be picked up by the public or the public gets interested or other restaurants get interested, I mean, then so be it and I'm happy."
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