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Sauce

Pontac Catsup for Fish

A vinegar-based sauce made from elderberries, used as a condiment for fish.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Pontac Catsup for Fish

Oven, in the book's wordsA cool oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a cool oven”. The 300°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

  1. Pour ¾ pint of boiling vinegar over 1 pint of elderberries.

  2. Let it stand in a cool oven (300°F / 150°C) overnight.

  3. The next day, strain the liquid without pressure.

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.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Elderberries
Provide the main fruity flavour and colour of the sauce as they steep in the vinegar.
Vinegar
Acts as the solvent and acidic base that extracts flavour from the elderberries and preserves the sauce.

The step that matters

Straining without pressure. Pressing the berries forces solids and cloudy pulp through the strainer, making the sauce murky. Letting the liquid drip through keeps it clear.

“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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