1) Malcolm Gladwell sets off on an exploration of the origins and evolution(or lack thereof), of the best selling mass-produced, shelf-stable Ketchups and one man’s quest to improve upon them. Gladwell takes us from modern day Boston, LA, Chicago & NYC, seamlessly into the Byzantine Empire, Asia and at one point quoting Yiddish expressions about worms in horseradish, and flavor breakthroughs made in mustards, tomato/spaghetti sauces, colas being made by Howard Moscowitz, Heublein, and the author’s main subject regarding the Ketchup,Jim Wigon-who has yet to make the same “Ketchup Breakthrough” pioneered in so many other condiments already. The author goes from interview to interview, from Living Rooms to Test Kitchens, all as they compare and contrast Ketchups’differences from other condiments/sauces, noting the uniqueness of Ketchup in that it hits all the five taste notes in the human palate.
2) Printed in The New Yorker in September 2004, this particular magazine’s median reader at that time was around 45-46 years old. In print since 1925, it focuses on cultural life and publishes fiction, non-fiction, satire, poetry, political commentary, entertainment reviews, crosswords etc. and are very well-known for their satirical cartoons. Many have called it a sophisticated readership, middle to upper-middle-class, with some aspiring to loftier heights.
This article holds appeal for just about everyone. I mean, who doesn’t like ketchup? Even folks who don’t care for it straight up probably eat it in one form or another within other sauces and/or recipes.
3) There is some bias, nothing too crazy. Gladwell, whether deliberately or not, frames this so-called “conundrum” in such a way that, even with all of the right scientific avenues being produced and with special care being taken to follow the very same formulas that had proven so successful in the past when branching out condiments/sauces/flavorings-it felt like we were just being led down a road to nowhere. Firstly, we already know, without even reading the article that Heinz is still the King of Ketchups, so with all of this tedious research we’re being subjected to, we already KNOW the ending. And secondly, we are hearing about taste trial after trial after trial that are meant to be narrowing down to a solution, but in reality we are made to feel more deeply mired in this gooey concoction we’ve come to regret even showing a glimmer of interest about at the start.
