Why it works: Allspice and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Mushroom Catchup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mushrooms
Gather large, juicy flap-mushrooms that are too ripe for pickling or stewing.
Remove all decayed matter and foreign substances.
Place the mushrooms in an earthen jar, sprinkling a little salt over each layer. Cover the jar.
Leave the jar near the fire for 24 hours.
Make the ketchup
Strain the liquid into a porcelain-lined kettle or clean saucepan.
Boil the liquid over high heat for 30 minutes.
Add 2 teaspoons of black peppercorns, 1 teaspoon of allspice, 3 small slices of fresh ginger, a few blades of mace, 3 or 4 cloves, and a sprinkle of Cayenne pepper for every quart of liquid.
Simmer until reduced by half.
Remove the liquid from heat. Cover the liquid.
Bottle and store
Once cool, fill small glass bottles completely.
Carefully dip off the liquid without disturbing the sediment.
Cork the bottles tightly with fresh cork.
Store the bottles on their sides in a dry, 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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Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Allspice + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,620 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,395 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Large, juicy flap-mushrooms
- Provide the main body and liquid that becomes the ketchup once salted and strained.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the mushrooms and helps preserve the liquid.
- Black peppercorns
- Add sharp, pungent heat that gives the ketchup its savory bite.
- Fresh ginger
- Adds warm, aromatic spice that lifts the flavor of the mushroom liquid.
- Cloves
- Contribute strong, warm aroma that rounds out the spiced flavor.
The step that matters
Simmering until reduced by half. Reducing concentrates the flavor and thickens the liquid, and stopping too early leaves it weak and less stable for storage. Boiling vigorously also helps drive off water.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, allspice, ginger, clove, pepper):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Thymefits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, allspice, ginger, clove, 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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