Another Mushroom Catsup

Ingredients

• a peck of large mushrooms
• three quarters of a pound of salt
• an ounce of black pepper
• a quarter of an ounce of allspice
• half an ounce of ginger
• two large blades of mace

Method

1. 1

   Break mushrooms into a deep earthen pan, strew salt, and place in a cool oven overnight.

2. 2

   Strain the liquor, boil for 15 minutes, then add spices and boil for an additional 20 minutes.

3. 3

   Bottle and seal when cold.

Nutrition per serving

As published

This recipe was extracted from Modern cookery, in all its branches (1884) by Eliza Acton, page 153. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

an ounce of black peppercorns and a drachm of mace ; or, instead of the pepper, a quarter of a teaspoonful (ten grains) of good cayenne ; pour the catsup into a clean jug or jar, lay a folded cloth over it, and keep it in a cool place until the following day ; pour it gently from the sediment, put into small bottles, cork them well, and rosin them down. A teaspoonful of salad oil may be poured into each bottle before it is corked, the better to exclude the air from the catsup. Mushrooms, 2 gallons ; salt, f lb. ; to macerate three or four days. To each quart of liquor, | oz. black pepper, or quarter of a teaspoonful of cayenne ; and 1 drachm of mace : to be reduced nearly half. Obs. 1. — Catsup made thus will not be too salt, nor will the flavour of the mushrooms be overpowered by that of the spices ; of which a larger quantity, and a greater variety, can be used at will. We can, however, answer for the excellence of the present receipt from long experience of it. When the catsup is boiled down quite early in the day, it may be bottled the same night : it is necessary only, that it should be perfectly cold before this is done. Obs. 2. — When the mushrooms are crushed, or mashed, as some authors direct, the liquor will necessarily be very thick ; it is better to proceed as above, and then to boil the liquor which may after- wards be extracted from the mushrooms by pressure, with the sedi- ment of the catsup, and sufficient cloves, pepper, allspice, and ginger, to flavour it highly : this second catsup will be found very useful to mix with common thickened sauces, hashes, and stews. MUSHROOM CATSUP. ( Another Receipt .) Break a peck of large mushrooms into a deep earthenpan ; strew three quarters of a pound of salt amongst them, and set them into a very cool oven for one night, with a fold of cloth or paper over them. The following day strain off the liquor, measure, and boil it for fifteen minutes ; then, for each quart, add an ounce of black pepper, a quarter of an ounce of allspice, half an ounce of ginger, and two large blades of mace

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.