Catsup, ketsap, ketchup, no matter how you spell it, banana catsup it is in the Philippines. Yes, there’s tomato catsup but as far as I can remember since I was born, it’s banana catsup that I see in our cupboard and in the restaurants. Most of us Pinoys want banana catsup as “sawsawan” lalo na when it comes to fried food (potato fries, fried chicken, fried pork etcetera). At home, I always make sure that I have a bottle of UFC banana catsup or else, I’ll hear from my husband and kids. I remember when I was still working in an office, my boss friend would always bring out a big jug of UFC catsup during lunch time and she wouldn’t eat her baon without it.
When I first heard that there’s an actual catsup museum in the country and I have an opportunity to see it, I made sure that I can come. It was just unfortunate that my kids were not able to go with us since it was 4th quarter exams in school. I was just too happy to share with them the photos and the videos I got from the tour.
I learned so many things from the tour that day and it made me appreciate Filipino ingenuity more than ever. I’ve learned that the inventor of banana catsup was a Filipina food technologist and her name is Maria Orosa. She was the first to come up with the first banana catsup recipe and if I have heard it correctly from the tour, the color of banana catsup then was brown, not red.
To honor the virtues of the Filipinos and make sure that the younger generation will know the history of the banana catsup, NutriAsia, the country’s top condiment manufacturer, partnered with The Mind Museum, to come up with the first ever catsup museum in the world. For me, the launch of the catsup museum was a historical event, and I am proud to imagine that maybe, in the future, my great-great grandchildren will be able to read that their grandma was present when the first catsup museum was launched in the Philippines.
The Catsup Museum has 4 interactive halls where guests will be able to learn the story of banana catsup. These are some of the shots I got but there are more areas to see.
1. The History of Banana Hall
The History of Banana Hall shows the different kinds of banana trees and the origins of the banana plant which came all the way from Kuk Valley in New Guinea around 8000 BCE.
Expect to see some big bananas inside the museum!
2. The Maria Orosa Hall
The Maria Orosa Hall commemorates Maria Orosa, the inventor of banana catsup, and how she was able to develop the recipe despite the war.
3. The Manufacturing Hall
The Manufacturing Hall shows the colorful step by step processes involved in manufacturing the banana catsup.
Like in The Mind Museum, expect to see interesting figures and shapes and installations inside The Catsup Museum.
Banana Catsup production trivia over giant banana queues.
Cool science experiments presented to the kids showing chemical reactions involved in the production of banana catsup.
4. The Banquet Hall
The perfect place to take selfies with larger than life installations of food and banana catsup.
Huge coloring boards for the kids.
After the tour in The Catsup Museum, NutriAsia held a small luncheon for the media and bloggers wherein a feast of dishes made with banana catsup was served. I was quite surprised with some of the dishes as I did not expect that there were banana catsup in it. Chef Tatum, the chef behind all the dishes served, told us how nutritious banana catsup is and how good it can be when used as an ingredient when cooking. I agree to that because all the dishes tasted superbly most specially the desert, the super moist red velvet with cream cheese mini cupcakes.
The Catsup Museum will be open for appointment only to schools within the province of Laguna. For inquiries, email thecatsupmuseum@nutriasia.com or look for it on Facebook and Instagram /thecatsupmuseum.
#CatsupMuseumOpening #MasarapatMasayaSaNutriAsia
