The name of catsup is given to several kinds of liquid pickles, made of
savoury vegetable substances, such as mushrooms, walnuts, &c. The
following method of preparing mushroom catsup is copied from the Cook’s
Oracle:--
Take full grown mushrooms; put a layer of them at the bottom of a deep
earthen pan, and sprinkle them with salt, then another layer of
mushrooms, put some more salt on them, and so on, alternately, salt and
mushrooms; let them remain two or three hours, by which time the salt
will have penetrated the mushrooms, and rendered them easy to break;
mash them well and let them remain for a couple of days, stirring them
up, and mashing them well each day; then pour them into a stone jar,
and to each quart add half an ounce of whole black pepper; stop the jar
very close, set it in a stew-pan of boiling water, and keep it simmering
for two hours at least. Take out the jar, and pour off the juice clear
from the sediment through a hair sieve into a stewpan (without squeezing
the mushrooms); let it boil up, skim it, and pour it into a dry jar; let
it stand till next day, then pour it off as gently as possible, through
a tammis, or flannel bag, (so as not to disturb the sediment at the
bottom of the jar.) Bottle it in pints or half pints; for it is best to
keep it in such quantities as are soon used: in each pint, put a dozen
berries of black pepper, the same of allspice, and a table-spoonful of
brandy.