Mushroom ketchup

“ Nearly every species figured on the Edible Sheet will produce ketchup of good quality, if treated with salt in an earthen jar. The Champignon and Horse Mushroom may be specially referred to as producing this condiment of an excellent quality.
The juice exuded from the truffle in boiling is highly relished by many, as is the deep blood-red juice that runs from the “liver fungus” when cut. This, when seasoned with salt and pepper, and boiled, has a very delicious and stimulating flavour. ”

“ Pour on them a good gravy, seasoned with salt, pepper, allspice, and either mushrooms or mushroom ketchup, adding truffles and morels, if approved. Strain, and thicken with butter and a little flour.
SWEETBREADS ROASTED. Parboil two large ones; when cold, lard them with bacon, and roast them in a Dutch oven. For sauce, plain butter and mushroom ketchup.
SWEETMEATS. Preserves or sweetmeats should be carefully kept from the air, and set in a very dry place. If they have only a small proportion of sugar, a warm situation would not injure them ”

“ Gastronomically the ordinary mushroom, and a large number of our British fungi, are most estimable, and ketchup produced from them—not the ordinary ketchup ‘of commerce,’ which is often innocent of any fungi whatever—is to the cultivated taste of the gourmet the best of sauces. ”

“ Bone, lard, and stuff a fillet of veal; half roast and then stew it with two quarts of white stock, a teaspoonful of lemon pickle, and one of mushroom ketchup. Before serving strain the gravy, thicken it with butter rolled in flour, add a little cayenne, salt, and some pickled mushrooms; heat it and pour it over the veal. Have ready two or three dozen forcemeat balls to put round it and upon the top. ”

“ Put into a saucepan 2 oz. butter and 1 tablespoonful flour, stir over the fire till the flour is well mixed with the butter. When the fish are done, with a slice lift them out on the dish in which they are to be served, and pour the liquor in which they were cooked into the saucepan with the butter and flour, stir well and boil up, then add the yolks of 2 eggs, a tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, the same of lemon juice, a little pepper and salt, and serve. Be careful the sauce does not boil after the eggs are in. ”

“ A pint of new milk, the yolk of two eggs, well beaten, two ounces of butter, well mixed with flour; mix it all together in a saucepan, and, when it boils, add two spoonfuls of mushroom ketchup; it must be stirred all the time, or it will not do. If used for cold veal or lamb, the meat must be cut as thin as possible, the sauce made first to boil, and then the meat put into it, till it is hot enough for table. ”

“ It can be flavoured with a small quantity of savoury herbs, pepper, and salt, as well as a little mushroom ketchup. It can be coloured with a few drops of Parisian essence, or burnt sugar. Its consistency can be improved by the addition of a small quantity of corn-flour. Sufficient corn-flour must be added not to make it thick but like very thin gum. In a broader sense, the water in which rice, lentils, beans and potatoes have been boiled may be called stock. Again, the water in which macaroni, vermicelli, sparghetti, and all kinds of Italian paste has been boiled, may be called stock. ”

“ What is now sold as mushroom ketchup is rarely pure, bullocks’ liver being one of the usual component parts. The spent beds are most valuable for manure for the land or for potting the higher class of plants, and are by no means exhausted. The manure often lies for months during decomposition before it is fit for the land. Why should not this be utilised? It is a most suitable investment for market-gardeners who are not far from a town, and for cottagers who hold a few acres, keeping one or two horses and cows. If they can make poultry pay, much more mushrooms. ”

“ When the mixture becomes too thick to beat easily, add a little of the lemon juice or vinegar, then more oil, and so on, alternating until all the ingredients are used. If liked, add more seasonings.
166 MUSHROOM GRAVY 1⁄4 lb. chopped mushrooms 1 heaping teaspoonful flour Salt and pepper 1 slice onion 1⁄2 pint (1 cup) water 1 tablespoonful mushroom ketchup 1 oz. ”

“ A little caramel, the yolks of 2 eggs, 1⁄4 pint cream, 1⁄2 glass brandy or sherry, stir in a jug till it thickens; put on ice to cool.
Quin Sauce.—2 gal. each mushroom ketchup and walnut ketchup, 1 gal. soy, 1 lb. garlic, 6 lb. sprats; boil 1⁄4 hour; strain; bottle.
Raspberry Sauce.—Put into a stewpan 4 well-beaten eggs, 2 teaspoonfuls flour, 1 pint fresh raspberry juice, and 1⁄4 lb. sugar; whisk this over the fire till it thickens and rises well; serve while it is light and frothy. Other similar fruit may be used in the same way. If red currants be chosen more sugar will be required. ”

“ Many country-folks readily distinguish the meadow from the horse mushroom, and have a great antipathy to the latter, although they are always willing to put it into the jar as one of the ingredients of ketchup. Opinions appear to differ greatly regarding the excellence of this species. Mr. Penrose writes—“I think young, and especially button specimens of this, very indigestible; until they are well opened out, they are unfit for use.” ”

“ Meanwhile make some good hare stuffing, made into little balls, with a well-beaten egg; fry them also of a nice colour. Mince the liver finely, and stew it in some good gravy, flavour with 2 tablespoonfuls mushroom ketchup, a little taragon or chili vinegar, salt, pepper, and a little lemon juice; thicken with a bit of butter, into which some flour has been rubbed, when ready pour this over the hare fillets and let all boil up. Serve very hot, garnish with crisp, hot sippets of fried bread alternately with stuffing balls and a few slices of lemon. ”

“ They occasionally produce diarrhœa, with a pruriginous or exanthematous rash in dyspeptics; and should only be eaten in great moderation.
Ketchup, the juice of the mushroom flavored with salt and spices, has produced faintness, nausea and colic, lasting for some hours.
There are some positive characters by which the wholesome fungi can be distinguished from the unwholesome. Moreover those which may be eaten with impunity by some individuals prove destructive to others. Thus, a French officer and his wife died from breakfasting off mushrooms which others in the house ate without inconvenience. ”

“ She began to feel distracted, and, for the first time in her life, refused to partake of sweetbreads fried in mushroom ketchup, a dish which she had greatly affected from the time when she wrote her first short story. While she was in the very act of waving away this delicacy a footman came in with a foreign telegram. ”

“ Pound fine an ounce of black pepper, and half an ounce of allspice, with an ounce of salt, and half an ounce of scraped horseradish, and the same of shalots, peeled and quartered; put these ingredients into a pint of mushroom ketchup, or walnut pickle, and let them steep for a fortnight, and then strain it. ”

“ After the loose soil has been taken from the stems, the mushrooms are neatly packed and tied down with raffia, the best and cheapest tying material, and then placed in wooden packing-cases for transmission to towns. Everywhere, in large centres, the greengrocers are glad to receive them, as the demand is greater than the supply, the price varying from one shilling to two shillings the pound from October to June.
Whenever the supply is too large, good unadulterated ketchup finds a ready market, and mushroom-growing is profitable if only for the juice alone. ”

“ BROWN SOUP WITH FORCEMEAT BALLS 3⁄4 lb. lean beef 1 carrot 2 onions 1 teaspoonful whole peppers 1 teaspoonful salt Few sprigs parsley 2 stalks celery 3 pints (6 cups) water 1 turnip 1 tablespoonful mushroom ketchup 4 cloves 1 teaspoonful powdered herbs 2 tablespoonfuls (11⁄2 ozs.) butter 2 tablespoonfuls (11⁄2 ozs.) flour 1 teaspoonful kitchen bouquet Some forcemeat balls Melt the butter in a large marmite, let it get brown, then brown in it the onions, cut in rings; remove the onions from the pot, and brown the flour in the butter ”

“ In some districts, when mushrooms are scarce, it is stated that almost any species that will yield a dark juice is without scruple mixed with the common mushroom, and it should seem without any bad consequence except the deterioration of the ketchup. ”

“ If you love good ketchup, gentle reader, make it yourself, after the following directions, and you will have a delicious relish for made dishes, ragouts, soup, sauces, or hashes. Mushroom gravy approaches the nature and flavor of made gravy, more than any vegetable juice, and is the superlative substitute for it; in meagre soups and extempore gravies, the chemistry of the kitchen has yet contrived to agreeably awaken the palate and encourage the appetite. ”

“ I have seen persons gathering fungi for ketchup (to be sold in [Pg 27] the markets) , putting almost anything into their baskets so long as the species appeared likely to yield a black juice.
I have known cows to be very fond of mushrooms; and a friend of mine in the country (who has more than once seen his cows, in the morning, go from mushroom to mushroom till all are consumed) goes regularly over his pastures every morning in the autumn, before the cattle are turned in, to secure the first gathering of the fungus crop. ”

“ On hedge-banks, in pastures, and in what are called fairy-rings, there is a species of mushroom (Agaricus orcades) , with brownish or watery white gills, two or four in a set, a pale brown, convex, and irregular cover, and a whitish stem. These are considered by many persons to be the champignons of the French cooks. They have a much higher flavour than the common mushroom: but from their leathery nature are indigestible, except in the form of powder, with sauces, or in ketchup, in all of which they are very admirable. ”

“ One important use to which several species of fungi can be applied, is the manufacture of ketchup. For this purpose, not only is the mushroom, Agaricus campestris, and the horse mushroom, Agaricus arvensis, available, but also Agaricus rubescens [90] is declared to be excellent for the purpose, and a delicious, but pale, extract is to be obtained from Marasmius oreades. Other species, as Coprinus comatus, and Coprinus atramentarius, are also available, together with Fistulina hepatica, and Morchella esculenta. ”

“ Opinions on the Merits of Marasmius oreades as an edible Fungus.—“On the Continent this species has long been considered edible, but on account of its coriaceous texture it is dried and employed in the form of powder, to season various made-dishes.”—Dr. Greville.
“The common fairy-ring champignon is the best of all our funguses, yet there is scarcely one person in a thousand who dare venture to use it. With common observation no mistake need be made with regard to it. It has an extremely fine flavour, and makes perhaps the very best ketchup that there is.”—Rev. ”

“ Roast 1 large or 2 small onions until they are quite black; cut the meat in small thin pieces; put the fat, skin, and bones in a saucepan with the onions and water, allowing for the latter to waste; let all stew until the gravy looks good and rich; then strain, and put the meat and gravy on again, letting them simmer gently until the meat is quite cooked; put a sufficient quantity of mushroom or walnut ketchup in a cup, and stir in enough flour to make a very thick batter, also a liberal quantity of cayenne ”

“ This fungus, called also the Horse Mushroom, from the enormous dimensions [161] to which it sometimes attains, is for the most part shunned by the English epicure; it is also this species from which many persons report themselves to have [101] suffered indigestion attended with violent colicky pains, when they have eaten it by mistake for the Ag. campestris. It is sold, under the name of White Caps, for making ketchup; but, notwithstanding its foreign name and reputation, most persons will agree with Mr. Berkeley, in holding both its flesh and its juices as greatly inferior to those of the Ag. ”

“ The juices of various fruits, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, and especially green walnuts, are used as a basis of ketchup, and shell-fish ketchup, from oysters, mussels and cockles, is also made; but in general the term is restricted to sauces having the juice of edible fungi as their basis. ”

“ Lay the pieces upon a sieve, or put them in a thin bag. Let them run all night until the juice is all run from them; put the juice in a stewpan, beat up the whites of 2 eggs, add them to the ketchup, with plenty of mixed spices. Let it boil for one minute, run it through a piece of muslin into a basin, and when cold bottle it up, cork, and seal it; keep it in a dry place.
(c) Ditto.—Break up the mushrooms, and add 1⁄4 lb. salt to every 31⁄2 lb. mushrooms; let them stand for 2 days, and drain all the juice you can procure from them by pressure; then boil it slowly for an hour, with 2 oz. ”

“ As a result, it is not uncommon to see an inch or more of pulp in the bottom of a car at the end of shipment, caused by the blowing out of the barrel heads from fermentation. The sanitary condition of the factory may be poor, the handling of the goods be unclean, the spices be the refuse from the spice houses, the sugar be of the cheapest grade, and the bottles be only rinsed or be used without even that precaution. The ketchup is a concoction so heavily spiced with hot spices that the tomato flavor is lost and might as well be anything else. ”