Truffle Ketchup from Zum Heiligen Stein. Black truffle with 45 percent tomato – the ketchup for steak, fries, and scrambled eggs.
Truffle Ketchup from Zum Heiligen Stein is a handmade truffle ketchup from Lich near Giessen: 45 percent double-concentrated tomato paste, cane sugar, 4 percent truffle cream made from mushrooms, olive oil, black olives, and black truffle, vinegar with raspberry juice, bell pepper, and spices, in a 200g jar. No thickening agents, no flavor enhancers, no preservatives, vegan – truffle cream in the recipe instead of a drop of truffle oil on top.
Truffle Ketchup sounds like an idea someone had at a trade fair. At Zum Heiligen Stein, it is the exact opposite: a truffle cream, like the kind found in Italian delicatessens—mushrooms, black olives, olive oil, and black truffle—stirred into the producer’s dense tomato base. The result is the ketchup we recommend to people who think ketchup is for kids: earthy, mild, with a scent that hits you the moment you open the jar.
First the scent, then the tomato, then the mushroom
Upon opening, the truffle rises—the earthy, slightly sweet aroma you know from truffle pasta. On the spoon, you first taste the tomato, dark and thick, with the sweetness of cane sugar and the rounded acidity of the vinegar with raspberry juice. Then the mushroom settles over it: mushroom and black olive provide depth, the truffle provides the lingering scent. The heat is subtle—bell pepper instead of cayenne—because a stronger spice would mask the truffle.
The truffle content is honestly stated: four percent truffle cream, 85 percent of which is mushrooms; the truffle itself is a small portion. Those expecting the ketchup to taste like a piece of fresh Périgord truffle will be disappointed: it is a ketchup with a truffle note, not a truffle product with tomato. In addition to mushrooms, olives, and truffle, the truffle cream contains flavoring—as does almost every truffle cream on the market; anyone looking for a product without added flavorings should opt for the producer’s classic varieties.
And like all of the producer's varieties, it contains sugar—about 35 grams per 100 grams are part of the recipe. It is not suitable for a sugar-reduced diet.
For steak, fries, scrambled eggs—and cheese
The classic use is the one steakhouses use for truffle mayonnaise: a dollop with beef fillet, entrecôte, or burgers. Fries and potato wedges with truffle ketchup and grated Parmesan are the dish this jar was made for. Fried potatoes with scrambled eggs get a Sunday upgrade with a spoonful.
You can also go more refined: a teaspoon stirred into tagliatelle with butter and Parmesan creates a truffle pasta from your pantry. It pairs surprisingly well as a cold sauce with duck breast and veal fillet. And as a marinade for shrimp—ketchup, olive oil, garlic, twenty minutes—the tomato and truffle combine with the sweet meat. It works with cheese just like a chutney: a dollop next to mountain cheese or Camembert.
It is not suitable as a ketchup for children or for bratwurst at a child's birthday party—the truffle is confusing when a simple ketchup is expected. And with heavily seasoned grilled food, such as marinated spareribs, the truffle note gets lost; the smoky ketchup is the better partner there. Its place is with dishes that would otherwise only get salt and butter: potatoes, eggs, good meat, pasta.
Our tip: Use the truffle ketchup cold or lukewarm and add it only after cooking—heat destroys the aroma. If you want it together with the smoky ketchup, take the truffly & smoky set.
The noble variation of the original from Muschenheim
The truffle ketchup builds on the recipe that Boris Sauerborn developed in the kitchen of his parents' restaurant, Zum Heiligen Stein in Muschenheim, for the lamb bratwurst from their own farm. The base is the same—tomato paste from Northern Italy, cane sugar, vinegar with raspberry juice, bell pepper, spices—only the tomato content is slightly higher at 45 percent, and it is joined by the truffle cream, which gives the ketchup its name and fragrance.
That a ketchup can handle truffle is due to the tomato: its sweetness and acidity are the classic partner for the mushroom, as in any truffle pasta with tomato sauce. Stirred, bottled, and labeled by hand in the workshop in Lich near Giessen, in small batches.
The 200g jar is intentionally smaller than those of the classics—a truffle ketchup is spooned rather than scooped.
The truffle ketchup was awarded one star each at the Great Taste Awards by the British Guild of Fine Food in 2022 and 2025.
The ketchup gift for people who otherwise avoid it
The truffle ketchup is the jar we most like to recommend as a gift: for foodies, for grill masters, for the host who already has everything. It looks different than ketchup, smells different than ketchup, and changes your mind at the table about what ketchup can be.
For Christmas and New Year's Eve, it is the jar we most often include in gift packages—alongside raclette and fondue, where a dollop of truffle ketchup with potatoes and meat complements the sauce platter and saves you from needing an extra sauce.
For your own fridge, it is the variety for Sunday: for steak, for breakfast with scrambled eggs, for the fries you treat yourself to on the weekend. Anyone who wants the three classics on the side should add the 3-piece ketchup set.
A truffle ketchup from Lich with black truffle – for steak, fries with Parmesan, and anyone who thought ketchup was for kids.
