To make catchup is a traditional British recipe, based on Hannah Glasse's recipe of 1747, for a classic method of making mushroom catsup (ketchup) from mushroom juice flavoured with spices that's boiled down to thicken before being bottled and which was a typical flavouring for the Georgian age. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: To make catchup.
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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Hannah Glasse's 1747 volume The Aft of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, the classic Georgian cookbook.
To make catchup.
TAKE the large flaps of muſhrooms, pick nothing but the ſtraws and dirt from it, then lay them in a broad earthen pan, ſtrew a good deal of ſalt over them, let them lie till next morning, then with your hand break them, put them in a ſtewpan, let them boil a minute or two, then ſtrain them through a coarſe cloth, and wring it hard. Take out all the juice, let it ſtand to ſettle, then pour it off clear, run it through a thick flannel bag, (ſome filter it through brown paper, but that is a very tedious way) then boil it ; to a quart of the liquor put a quarter of an ounce of whole ginger, and half a quarter of an ounce of whole pepper. Boil it briſkly a quarter of an hour, then ſtrain it, and when it is cold, put it into pint bottles. In each bottle put four or five blades of mace, and ſix cloves, cork it tight, and it will keep two years. This gives the beſt flavour of the muſhrooms to any ſauce. If you put to a pint of this catchup a pint of mum, it will taſte like a foreign catchup.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
2kg (or more) large white open cap mushrooms (these do not have to be completely fresh) [you can also use portobello mushrooms, St George's Mushrooms, Field Mushrooms, Brown Wood Mushrooms and Horse mushrooms]
salt
7.5g ginger per 1l mushroom juice
1 tsp black peppercorns, per 1l mushroom juice
blades of mace
cloves
Method:
Wipe the mushroom caps clean, remove the stalks and lay in a deep dish. Scatter salt over the top then set aside to extract the excess liquid until the following morning.
Scrape off the excess salt then break the mushroom caps into chunks. Bring a pan of water to a boil, add the mushroom pieces and blanch for 2 minutes. Turn into a fine-meshed sieve and allow to drain.
Place the sieve on top of a clean bowl then press the mushrooms through with the back of a wooden spoon. Transfer the mushroom pulp into a clean tea towel then wring out as much of the mushroom liquid as you can.
Turn the liquid into a measuring jug then, to each 1l of the liquid add 7.5g freshly-grated ginger and 1 tsp black peppercorns. Bring the mixture to a boil and continue boiling for 15 minutes then strain out the spices and set the liquid aside to cool.
When completely cold, pour into cleaned and sterilized bottles. Add a few blades of mace and a few cloves to each bottle, stopper them securely and set aside in a cool, dark, cupboard until needed.
