Why it works: Mushroom and brandy work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 206 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Mushroom Ketchup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mushrooms
Clean the mushrooms without washing them.
Layer the mushrooms in a deep pan with salt, repeating until the pan is nearly full.
Cover and let them sit in a warm place for three hours until soft.
Press down the mushrooms with a wooden spoon.
Keep the mushrooms in the pan for two days.
Stir and mash the mushrooms twice daily.
Cook and strain
Pour the pulp and liquid into stone jars.
Add allspice and black peppercorns to the jars.
Seal the jars tightly.
Place the sealed jars in a pot with boiling water, ensuring the water reaches nearly the top of the jars.
Boil the jars for about 3.5 hours.
Steam the jars for about 3.5 hours.
Remove the jars.
Pour off the liquid while keeping back the sediment.
Strain the liquid through a fine sieve into a clean pot.
Simmer the liquid for one hour.
Skim off any scum that rises.
Settle and bottle
Pour the ketchup into a clean, dry jug.
Let it sit covered in a cool place for about 20 hours.
Decant the clear liquid from the sediment through a thick flannel bag.
Add French brandy to each quart of the liquid.
Let it stand in the jug again.
Store the pure ketchup in small, clean, dry bottles.
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.
-
Mushroom + brandytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together206 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Mushroom + allspicetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together717 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
-
Allspice + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together931 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fresh mushrooms
- Provide the main body and liquid of the ketchup as they break down with salt.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the mushrooms and helps preserve the ketchup.
- Allspice berries
- Add warm, aromatic flavour to the finished ketchup.
- Black peppercorns
- Add sharp, aromatic pungency to the finished ketchup.
- French brandy
- Adds alcohol that helps preserve the ketchup and contributes aroma.
The step that matters
Salting and layering the mushrooms. Salt must be evenly layered so it draws moisture out of the mushrooms and keeps spoilage organisms in check during the days of standing. Mushrooms left unsalted or unevenly covered can rot before they release their liquid.
Swap the allspice
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, brandy):
- Clovefits better
- Thymefits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Allspicethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, brandy. 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.
More mushroom ketchup recipes
You might also like
Mushroom Soup60 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.