Mushroom Catsup

Ingredients

• 2 gallons large ripe mushroom-flaps
• 0.75 pound salt
• 0.5 ounce black peppercorns
• 1 drachm mace
• 1 teaspoonful salad oil

Instructions

1. Break up the mushroom-flaps small into a deep earthen pan.
2. Strew amongst them three quarters of a pound of salt, reserving the larger portion for the top.
3. Let them remain two days, stirring them gently with a wooden spoon often during the time.
4. Turn them into a large stewpan or enamelled saucepan, heat them slowly, and simmer them for fifteen or twenty minutes.
5. Strain the liquor closely from them without pressure.
6. Strain and measure the liquor, then put it into a very clean stewpan.
7. Boil it quickly until it is reduced nearly half.
8. For every quart, add half an ounce of black peppercorns and a drachm of mace (or a quarter of a teaspoonful of good cayenne instead of the pepper).
9. 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.
10. Pour it gently from the sediment and put into small bottles.
11. Cork the bottles well and rosin them down.
12. A teaspoonful of salad oil may be poured into each bottle before it is corked, to better exclude the air from the catsup.