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
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the mushrooms
Cut off part of the stalk from the mushrooms, then wash and drain them.
Bruise the mushrooms slightly in a mortar.
Place the mushrooms in an earthen vessel and cover them with a moderate amount of coarse sea salt.
Let the mixture sit for 3 to 4 days.
Make the ketchup
Strain the mixture through a fine cloth.
Once settled, pour the liquid into a saucepan.
For every pint of juice, add ½ cup vinegar, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon allspice, 1 teaspoon cloves, 1 teaspoon ginger, and 1 teaspoon mustard seed.
Simmer the mixture for 30 minutes.
Bottle and seal the mixture.
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).
-
Clove + gingertop 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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Allspice + mustardtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,928 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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 savoury umami flavour of the ketchup.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws water out of the mushrooms and preserves the mixture during the long rest.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens flavour and helps preserve the finished ketchup.
- Black pepper
- Adds a sharp, warm bite that rounds out the savoury flavour.
- Cloves
- Contribute warm, aromatic spice notes to the ketchup.
The step that matters
Covering the mushrooms with salt. Salt must be applied in the right amount so it draws out juice and protects against spoilage during the multi-day rest. Too little salt can let the mushrooms spoil before the liquid is extracted.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, vinegar, pepper, allspice, clove, ginger):
- Capsicumfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Carrotfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, vinegar, pepper, allspice, clove, ginger. 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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