Why it works: Mushroom and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,580 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Mushroom Catsup
Ingredients
Directions
Salt and rest
Layer mushrooms in a bowl, sprinkling with coarse sea salt alternately until used up.
Let the mixture stand for 48 hours.
Mash and season
Mash the mushrooms finely.
For each quart of mixture, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of black pepper.
Transfer to a stone jar.
Cook and bottle
Place the jar in a kettle of boiling water and boil for 2 hours.
Strain the mixture and boil the juice for 15 minutes.
Skim off any foam and let it settle.
Carefully strain through a sieve, then bottle and cork tightly.
Store in a cool 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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Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Mushroom + vinegartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,070 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (smoky, clove).
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 savory flavor of the ketchup.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the mushrooms and preserves the mixture while it stands.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and helps keep the finished ketchup stable.
- Black pepper
- Adds a mild, sharp aroma and gentle heat to the seasoning.
The step that matters
Boiling the juice after straining. Boiling in a sealed-off stone jar within boiling water gently cooks the mixture without scorching it, and boiling the strained juice concentrates flavor and drives off excess liquid. Skimming foam keeps the final ketchup clear and clean-tasting.
“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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