Clean 7 pounds mushrooms by rubbing them with a dry cloth or a little salt. If you pick your own mushrooms, do not pick them on a wet morning. They should be quite dry, or the ketchup will not keep. Place them in a crock or large jar and sprinkle them with 1/2 pound salt. Let them stand for 3 days, stirring them at least 3 times each day. Then cook them over a gentle flame until their juice exudes freely. Strain the juice through a cloth without squeezing the mushrooms. Discard the pulp and pour the juice into a large jar, adding, for each quart of liquid, 1 teaspoon each powdered allspice and ground ginger and 1/4 teaspoon each ground mace and cayenne. Place the jar in a pan of boiling water and cook very gently for 3 hours. Cool the ketchup, strain it 2 or 3 times through a fine cloth or muslin, and bottle.
This exclusive recipe is pulled directly from Gourmet’s archive. It has not been re-tested by our food editors since it was published in the magazine, but it's a pretty good indication of the kinds of things we once cooked—and ate—with great pleasure.
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