Why it works: Mushroom and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,529 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓
Hush Room Catsup
Ingredients
Directions
Salt the mushrooms
Break mushrooms into a deep earthen pan and sprinkle with ¾ pound of salt, reserving some for the top.
Let sit for 2 days, stirring gently with a wooden spoon often.
Cook and strain
Transfer to a large saucepan, heat slowly, and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Strain the liquid closely and measure it.
Boil the liquid quickly until reduced by half.
Season and bottle
For each quart of liquid, add ½ ounce of black pepper or ¼ teaspoon of cayenne and 1 drachm of mace.
Pour the catsup into a clean jar, cover with a cloth, and keep in a cool place overnight.
Gently pour off the sediment, bottle it, cork well, and seal with rosin.
Optionally, add a teaspoon of salad oil to each bottle before corking to exclude air.
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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Mushroom + macetop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,529 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Large ripe mushrooms
- Provide the main body and liquid that is drawn out and concentrated into the ketchup.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws water out of the mushrooms and preserves the liquid, concentrating its flavor.
- Black peppercorns
- Add sharp, pungent aroma and warmth to the finished ketchup.
- Mace
- Adds a warm, aromatic spice note to the finished ketchup.
The step that matters
Let the mushrooms sit with salt for 2 days. Salt draws water out of the mushrooms through osmosis, softening them and creating the liquid that will be reduced. Stirring gently helps the salt contact all pieces evenly, so the mixture cooks down consistently rather than spoiling or tasting harsh.
“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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