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Walnut Catsup

A fermented walnut-based sauce with anchovies, garlic, spices, and port wine lees, aged and boiled to produce a thick condiment.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Walnut Catsup

Ingredients

Directions

Steep the walnuts

  1. Place the green outer shells in a jar.

  2. Cover with strong vinegar.

  3. Seal the jar securely.

  4. Let it sit for twelve months.

  5. After a year, strain the mixture through a strong sieve to extract the juice.

Make the ketchup

  1. For every gallon of liquid, add the chopped anchovies, garlic, allspice, cloves, mace, black pepper, and ginger.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  3. Simmer for ten minutes.

  4. Skim off any foam.

  5. Let it sit for twenty-four hours.

  6. Boil again until reduced by half.

Bottle and seal

  1. Once cooled, bottle the catsup.

  2. Cork it.

  3. Seal with wax.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Allspice + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,620 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Green walnuts (outer shells)
Provide the main flavour base and their extracted juice forms the body of the ketchup.
Strong vinegar
Acts as the preserving liquid, extracting flavour from the shells and adding acidity.
Anchovies
Add a deep savoury, umami note that rounds out the ketchup.
Garlic
Contributes pungent aroma and savoury depth to the liquid.
Port wine lees
Add sweetness, body and fermented depth to the ketchup.

The step that matters

Boiling down until reduced by half. Reducing concentrates flavour and thickens the liquid, but over-reducing can make it too strong or salty-tasting. Cooking the spices and anchovies in a boil also drives off raw notes and makes the seasoning meld.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (walnut, vinegar, garlic, allspice, pepper, clove, ginger):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Cardamomfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against walnut, vinegar, garlic, allspice, 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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