Why it works: Allspice and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,620 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Mushroom Catsup
Ingredients
Directions
Salt and rest
Layer mushrooms and salt in an earthen pan and let sit overnight.
Mash the mixture well and let it sit for three days, stirring daily.
Strain the mixture through a sieve or colander.
Spice and cook
To each quart of juice, add allspice, ginger, mace, and cayenne pepper.
Transfer to a stone jar, cover tightly, and boil in a kettle of boiling water for 5–6 hours.
Remove from heat, pour into a porcelain kettle, and boil slowly for an additional hour.
Settle and bottle
Let it cool overnight until settled and clear.
Carefully pour off the clear liquid from the sediments and bottle in small bottles, sealing them airtight.
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 + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,620 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,395 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Allspice + macetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,189 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Ginger + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mushrooms
- Form the main body and liquid base of the ketchup once salted and mashed.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the mushrooms and helps preserve the mixture during resting.
- Allspice
- Adds warm, clove-like aroma and depth to the liquid.
- Ginger
- Contributes a bright, pungent aroma that balances the earthy mushrooms.
- Mace
- Adds a delicate, nutmeg-like aroma to the sauce.
- Cayenne pepper
- Provides heat that gives the finished sauce its sharp bite.
The step that matters
Pouring off the clear liquid. Sediment left at the bottom of the settled liquid would make the ketchup cloudy and gritty. Pouring slowly and leaving the sediment behind keeps the finished sauce clear and smooth.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, allspice, ginger, pepper):
- Clovefits better
- Thymefits better
- Turmericfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, allspice, ginger, 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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