What eager burger-lover hasn’t ended up with a ketchup stain down the front of his or her shirt after a valiant attempt to coax the condiment out of its bottle?
Now, a new invention claims to have the solution to such messy food fiascos by turning liquid ketchup into edible slices.
A slice of ketchup? Yep, it’s a thing! The product is called Slice of Sauce, and the company behind it is currently raising funds on Kickstarter to manufacture and package the condiment sheets.
The slice, which resembles a thin piece of fruit leather, is made from vine-ripened tomato puree, distilled vinegar, cane sugar, Kosher salt, onion and garlic powders and fruit pectin. While regular ketchup has 19 calories per tablespoon, each Slice of Sauce contains 30 calories and 5 grams of sugar.
Slice of Sauce uses no preservatives and the product does not need to be refrigerated, so you can carry it on the go to barbecues, picnics and parties. Each package comes with eight slices but the company hasn't released pricing information yet.
Co-founder and CEO Emily Williams, whose father is a restauranteur in Michigan, created the recipe while developing a barbecue sauce. Rather than discarding the unused parts of vegetables she was using, Williams “mixed them, ground them and dried them” — and ended up with a literal slice of spices and veggies.
“The slice is going to revolutionize the way that we sauce,” Williams says in a video on the company's Kickstarter page. “Join us in the ‘slice age.’”
But is ketchup mess such a problem that we need a whole new product to stop it? The internet isn't convinced.
Many have been critical of Slice of Sauce's packaging since each slice needs to encased in plastic, but the company has responded by explaining that they are developing the "most sustainable" and "low-impact" options they can, which include using compostable and recyclable materials and putting cellophane between each slice, instead of wrapping them individually.
It also turns out Williams isn’t the first person to come up with the idea to harden ketchup. Chefs at the Los Angeles restaurant Plan Check developed “Ketchup Leather,” which has been used on the restaurant’s signature burger for at least three years. According to the restaurant's website, Plan Check says the ketchup sheets keeps the buns from getting soggy. Williams’ creation, however, would be the first commercially available slice of ketchup.
Slice of Sauce is already $5,000 over its fundraising goal and, if all goes to plan, they will start selling “slices” on their website and at speciality grocers in June.
And if you're not a fan of tomato-based condiments, don't worry, it seems the company isn’t limited to just slices of ketchup. The Kickstarter page promises new flavors soon. Sliced mustard, anyone?