Mushroom Catsup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mushrooms
Take 2 quarts fresh mushrooms, cut off the stalks, and wipe.
Break them into a bowl, and sprinkle over them 3 ounces salt and some mixed spices.
Salt and strain
Soak for 3 days, occasionally stirring; then strain without squeezing.
Reduce and bottle
Measure the liquid; to each pint of liquid allow 1 ounce black peppercorns and 1 drachm whole mace, oil until reduced about half.
Strain into a pitcher, let stand 4 hours, then fill small bottles, cork and seal.
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. See the original page.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Mushrooms (in the method)
- Provide the main body of flavour and liquid once salted and soaked.
- Salt
- Draws moisture out of the mushrooms and preserves the liquid against spoilage.
- Black peppercorns (in the method)
- Add sharp, aromatic heat that carries through the reduced liquid.
- Whole mace (in the method)
- Adds warm, aromatic spice notes to the reduced liquid.
The step that matters
Straining without squeezing. Squeezing the soaked mushrooms pushes solids and cloudy material into the liquid, which makes the ketchup murky and can affect how well it keeps. Letting the liquid drip through clears it.
“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.
More mushroom ketchup recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.