Why it works: Ginger and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,800 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Mushroom Catsup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mushrooms
Remove any decayed, dirty, or worm-eaten portions from the mushrooms.
Cut off about ½ inch from the ends of the stalks.
Break the mushrooms into small pieces.
Place them in an earthen jar.
Salt and macerate
Strew the salt among the mushrooms, scattering larger pieces on top, and let them sit overnight.
Stir the mixture gently with a wooden spoon three times a day for two days.
After two days, place the jar in a cool oven for 30 minutes.
Strain and boil
Strain the liquid through a coarse cloth.
Boil it for 30 minutes without squeezing the mushrooms.
For every quart of liquid, add ¾ ounce each of Jamaica ginger and black pepper, and 1 drachm of mace.
Boil again until the quantity is reduced by half.
Bottle and store
Pour the mixture into perfectly dry bottles, leaving the sediment undisturbed.
Seal the corks.
Store in a cool, dry place.
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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Ginger + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Ginger + macetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,152 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Mushroom + gingertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together867 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Pepper + macetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,257 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Pepper and mace barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mushrooms
- Provide the main body and savoury flavour of the ketchup as they break down in salt.
- Sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the mushrooms and preserves the liquid against spoilage.
- Jamaica ginger
- Adds warm, aromatic spice flavour to the finished ketchup.
- Black pepper
- Adds sharp, pungent spice that rounds out the savoury flavour.
- Mace
- Adds a delicate, aromatic warmth to the finished ketchup.
The step that matters
Leaving the sediment undisturbed when bottling. Fine particles settle to the bottom during standing and boiling. Disturbing them when pouring introduces cloudiness and sediment into the bottle, and can shorten how well the ketchup keeps.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, ginger, pepper):
- Turmericfits better
- Clovefits better
- Thymefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, ginger, pepper. 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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