Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Mushkoom Catsup
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the mushrooms
Wash the mushroom tops clean and mash them.
Sprinkle coarse sea salt over the mashed mushrooms and let them sit overnight.
Cook and strain
Place the mixture in a saucepan and cook in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 10 to 12 hours.
Strain the mixture through a sieve to extract all the juice.
Season and reduce
For every gallon of liquid, add ½ pound of salt, 1 ounce of cloves, 1 ounce of cinnamon, 1 ounce of black pepper, and 1 ounce of ginger.
Heat the mixture over the fire until it reduces by half.
Cool and bottle
Transfer to an earthen dish to cool, then bottle for use.
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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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Pepper + gingertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Full-grown mushroom tops
- Provide the main body, savoury flavour and liquid that becomes the ketchup.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws juice out of the mushrooms and helps preserve the mixture.
- Cloves
- Add a warm, aromatic spice flavour.
- Cinnamon
- Adds a sweet, woody aroma and warmth.
- Black pepper
- Adds sharp, pungent heat that balances the savoury base.
- Ginger
- Adds a zesty, aromatic bite.
The step that matters
Reducing the strained liquid by half. Heating concentrates the liquid by evaporating water, which intensifies the flavour and helps the ketchup keep. Stopping too early leaves it thin and watery, while overheating can scorch the spices and darken the sauce.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, clove, cinnamon, pepper):
- Allspicefits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, clove, cinnamon, 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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