Its ingredients include tomatoes (41%), tomato purée (5%), vinegar, sugar, onions, sultanas, sea salt, mustard seed and spices.

In the U.S. it’s called…ketchup.

But what a ketchup!

The layering of flavors is magnificent: fruity from the tomatoes and the sultanas, pungent from the vinegar and mustard seed, oniony from the onions. It’s sweet enough for American palates used to Heinz.

(By contrast, Heinz ketchup ingredients are tomato concentrate, vinegar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, salt, spice, onion powder, natural flavoring and Tabasco.)

The texture, the rich fruity taste and the impeccable seasoning make Ballymaloe a ketchup you can eat from the spoon (if you’re so inclined).

It’s ketchup the way it used to be, when it was a homemade condiment—before it got “blandified” by big American brands into tomato paste blended with high fructose corn syrup.

Ballymaloe ketchup is the house recipe from the Ballymaloe Country House in Cork, Ireland. The Country House is a former private home, renovated into a hotel and restaurant (and it looks absolutely charming).

You can buy the ketchup online at the BallymaloeUSA.com website; $5.29 per 8.5-ounce bottle.

It is also available at select retailers, including A&P, Dean & DeLuca, Fairway, Food Emporium and King’s.

Learn more about Ballymaloe on the company website.

Bring a bottle as a house gift, or give them as stocking stuffers. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.