Why it works: Clove and allspice 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 Catsup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Cut off the ends of the mushroom stems and place them in a deep pan, sprinkling salt over each layer.
Let the mushrooms sit for two days.
Strain the juice through a sieve into a preserving kettle.
Spice and boil
For every pint of juice, add 12 cloves, 12 whole allspice, 2-3 pieces of mace, and ½ grated nutmeg.
Boil for 15 minutes, then remove from heat and let it stand for 2-3 days.
Bottle and seal
Pour the liquid gently from the sediment into small bottles using a funnel.
Top each bottle with 1 tablespoon of sweet oil.
Cork the bottles tightly and seal the corks.
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 + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Allspice + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,331 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,686 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Clove + macetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,400 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Large fresh mushrooms
- Release their liquid, which becomes the base of the ketchup.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the mushrooms and helps preserve the juice.
- Cloves
- Adds warm, aromatic spice flavor to the juice.
- Whole allspice
- Adds warm, peppery aroma to the juice.
- Mace
- Adds a delicate, warm aroma to the juice.
- Nutmeg
- Adds a sweet, warm aroma to the juice.
The step that matters
Letting the mushrooms sit for two days. Salt must be layered evenly so it draws juice out of the mushrooms before the juice is strained. Too little salt or too short a rest yields weak liquid that may spoil, since the salt is what helps preserve the juice.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, clove, allspice, nutmeg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Thymefits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, clove, allspice, nutmeg. 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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