Why it works: Clove and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Mushroom Catsup
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the mushrooms
Crush large black flat mushrooms in a vessel.
Mix in a large handful of coarse sea salt for each peck.
Transfer the mixture to a crock.
Macerate in a cool oven at 300°F (150°C) for six hours.
Press out the juice once cooled.
Spice and reduce
Boil the juice with mace, Jamaica pepper, black pepper, cloves, ginger, and coarse sea salt.
Simmer the mixture. Skim until no more impurities rise.
Let it sit for one to two days.
Boil again until reduced to half its original quantity.
Bottle
Bottle the mixture once cooled.
Cork securely, sealing with wax.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Mace + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,400 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
-
Pepper + gingertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Mushroom + clovetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,663 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Large black flap mushrooms
- Break down into juice that forms the liquid base of the ketchup.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the mushrooms and acts as a preservative for the juice.
- Cloves
- Adds warm, aromatic spice flavor to the reduced juice.
- Black pepper
- Adds pungent heat and spice to the finished ketchup.
- Ginger
- Adds warm, aromatic spice flavor to the reduced juice.
- Mace
- Adds a warm, aromatic spice flavor to the reduced juice.
The step that matters
Boil again until reduced to half its original quantity. Reduction by boiling concentrates the flavors and thickens the liquid, and evaporating enough water helps the ketchup keep well once bottled.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, pepper, clove, ginger):
- Allspicefits better
- Turmericfits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, pepper, clove, ginger. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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