Cucumber Catsup

Pound some cucumbers in a mortar; sprinkle with salt and leave them for several hours to extract the juice. Strain off the liquid by twisting in a towel, season well, and boil. Pour into bottles and cork tightly until wanted for use.

Mushroom Catsup

Break up the required quantity of mushrooms, put them in a tub, salt over and leave for two days. Afterwards take out all the juice and strain into a saucepan; for every pint, put in one ounce of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper-corns, six cloves and a third of an ounce of ginger. When boiling, move the catsup to the side of the fire and let it simmer gently.

Oyster Catsup

Pound two dozen oysters with three anchovies in a mortar and season with one-fourth ounce each of ground cloves, cayenne pepper and ground mace. Mix their liquor with them, turn them into a lined saucepan, pour in a pint of white wine and two wineglassfuls of brandy. Place the catsup over a slow fire until boiling, then strain it through a fine silk-sieve. When cold, pour the catsup into bottles and keep them tightly corked for use.

Tomato Catsup

Cut a number of tomatoes into slices, put them in a deep earthenware pan in layers, sprinkle over a layer of salt and allow them to remain in the salt for twelve hours. Put them over the fire in a preserving-kettle and allow them to boil until they are quite soft; then strain and squeeze the juice from them in a thin linen cloth. Put the strained juice over the fire with mace, cloves, grated horse-radish and garlic to taste and let it boil rapidly for thirty minutes or so. Remove it from the fire, allow it to get cold, then bottle it, corking the bottles well and dividing the spice equally among the bottles. The addition of a small quantity of salicylic acid will effectually prevent fermentation and mould. Eight grains stirred in after or while boiling will be sufficient for one quart. A piece of blotting-paper made to fit tightly over the catsup and saturated with a concentrated solution of salicylic acid in rum or brandy will help to keep it good. The acid is entirely harmless, with no taste or smell and can be obtained in powder or crystals, the latter being preferred. When this is used, care must be taken never to employ tin or metallic vessels as when it comes in contact with the metal it turns dark. Porcelain-lined vessels are the best.

Walnut Catsup

Put one hundred green walnuts into a mortar and beat them well until bruised, then put them into a jar with six ounces of chopped shallots, a head of garlic, one-half pound of salt, and two quarts of vinegar. Stir the contents of the jar twice a day for a fortnight, then strain off the vinegar, put it into a saucepan with three anchovies, one tablespoonful of cloves, two tablespoonfuls of peppercorns and one-fourth of an ounce of mace. Boil the vinegar for half an hour, then strain it off and leave it until cold. Pour the vinegar into bottles, being careful not to get any of the sediment mixed up in it. Cork the bottles tightly and keep them in a dry store-cupboard.

Parsley Juice For Coloring

Put some leaves of parsley into a mortar to pound. Squeeze the juice off into a jar, stand the jar in a saucepan, surround it with boiling water, but do not let the water boil over the edges (a bain-marie is best), and keep it by the side of the fire till the juice is warm. It is then ready for use.

Tomato Picalilli

Chop fine one-half bushel of tomatoes and squeeze them dry, put them into a large bowl, and mix in a couple of dozen minced onions, a dozen chopped green peppers, four ounces of mustard, a little less than a pint of salt, a large root of finely-grated horseradish, and four tablespoonfuls each of powdered cloves and allspice. When thoroughly macerated, put the mixture into a stone jar, pour over enough vinegar to cover, making a slight hollow in the mixture to enable the liquor to get to the bottom of the jar, cover it well, and let it remain until the ingredients are thoroughly saturated. It is then ready for use.