Why it works: Vinegar and clove are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,386 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Mushroom Catsup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mushroom ketchup
Take the caps of the proper mushrooms from the stems, wash them, add some salt, and crush them.
Boil them for some time, then strain them through a cloth.
Put them on the fire again with salt to your taste, a few cloves of garlic, and a quarter of an ounce of pounded cloves, to a peck of mushrooms.
Boil it until reduced to less than half the original quantity.
Bottle and cork it well.
Make the tarragon vinegar
Pick the tarragon nicely from the stem, and let it lie in a dry place for forty-eight hours.
Put it in a pitcher, and to one quart of the leaves put three pints of strong vinegar.
Cover it close, and let it stand a week.
Then strain it, and after standing in the pitcher till quite clear, bottle it, and cork it closely.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Vinegar + clovetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,386 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mushrooms (in the method)
- Provide the main body and savoury flavour of the ketchup as they break down during boiling.
- Salt
- Seasons the mushrooms and draws out their liquid during the first crushing.
- Cloves
- Add a warm, aromatic spice note that flavours the reduced ketchup.
- Strong vinegar
- Acts as the solvent and preserving agent, extracting flavour from the tarragon and keeping the ketchup stable.
- Tarragon leaves
- Infuse the vinegar with their sharp, aromatic herbal flavour over the week of standing.
The step that matters
Boil the mushroom liquid until reduced by more than half. Evaporating most of the water concentrates the flavour and thickens the liquid, and the ketchup keeps longer once it is dense enough. Stopping early leaves it thin and more prone to spoiling.
“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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