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Walnut Catsup

A sauce made from ground walnuts, anchovies, salt, spices, and horseradish, boiled and bottled.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Ginger and clove 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 ↓

Walnut Catsup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the juice

  1. Take green walnuts early in August or before the shell is formed.

  2. Grind or pound them, and squeeze the juice through a coarse cloth.

Make the ketchup

  1. To every gallon of juice add 1 pound anchovies, 1 pound salt, 4 ounces cayenne pepper, 2 ounces ground black pepper, 1 ounce each ginger, cloves and mace, and 1 horseradish root.

  2. Boil until reduced to the quantity.

  3. Strain and when cold, bottle.

  4. Use in 3 months.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

29Calories
1 gProtein
1 gFat
6 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 8 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Horseradishnot in our table0
Macenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. 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. See the original page.

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. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  4. Horseradish + clovetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Pepper + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,800 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Green walnuts (in the method)
Provide the juice that forms the base of the ketchup.
Anchovies
Add savoury depth and a salty, umami character to the sauce.
Salt
Preserves the ketchup and seasons the sauce.
Cayenne pepper
Adds heat and pungency to the sauce.
Horseradish root
Adds sharp, pungent heat that carries through the sauce.

The step that matters

Boil until reduced to the quantity. Boiling concentrates the liquid and drives off water, which helps the ketchup keep and gives it a thicker body. Stopping at the right point matters, since over-reducing makes it too dense and under-reducing leaves it thin and more prone to spoiling.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, ginger, horseradish, clove):

  1. Allspicefits better
  2. Cinnamonfits better
  3. Turmericfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, ginger, horseradish, clove. 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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