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Camp Ketchup

A fermented condiment made from beer, wine, anchovies, shallots, mace, nutmeg, and ginger.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Mace and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Camp Ketchup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the ketchup

  1. Combine the beer, white wine, anchovies, shallots, mace, nutmeg, and ginger in a pot.

  2. Heat over moderate heat until one-third of the liquid is reduced.

Bottle and store

  1. Let it cool, then bottle it with the spices and shallots.

  2. Seal the bottle tightly; it will keep for many years.

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

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.

  1. Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Shallot + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,019 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Nutmeg + gingertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Shallot + gingertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together565 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Beer + white winetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together57 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Old strong beer
Forms the liquid base and adds malty, bitter depth that concentrates as it reduces.
White wine
Adds acidity and a bright edge that balances the savory and spiced flavors.
Anchovies
Melt into the liquid to add savory, salty depth without a fishy taste.
Shallots
Contribute mild sweetness and aromatic flavor as they soften and infuse the liquid.
Mace
Adds a warm, delicate aroma that carries through the reduced liquid.
Nutmeg
Adds warm, sweet spice aroma that deepens the overall flavor.

The step that matters

Reducing the liquid by one-third. Gentle heat evaporates water and concentrates the flavors, so the ketchup becomes richer and thicker. Heating too hard can scorch the solids and make the flavor bitter, so the pot needs steady attention until the reduction is reached.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beer, white wine, shallot, nutmeg, ginger):

  1. Clovefits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Cinnamonfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beer, white wine, shallot, nutmeg, 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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