Common Sense in the Household: A Manual of Practical Housewifery

by Marion Harland

Tomato Catsup. ✠

• 1 peck ripe tomatoes.
• 1 ounce salt.
• 1 ounce mace.
• 1 tablespoonful black pepper.
• 1 teaspoonful cayenne.
• 1 tablespoonful cloves (powdered).
• 7 tablespoonful ground mustard.
• 1 tablespoonful celery seed (tied in a thin muslin bag).

Cut a slit in the tomatoes, put into a bell-metal or porcelain kettle, and boil until the juice is all extracted and the pulp dissolved. Strain and press through a cullender, then through a hair sieve. Return to the fire, add the seasoning, and boil at least five hours, stirring constantly for the last hour, and frequently throughout the time it is on the fire. Let it stand twelve hours in a stone jar on the cellar floor. When cold, add a pint of strong vinegar. Take out the bag of celery seed, and bottle, sealing the corks. Keep in a dark, cool place.

Tomato and walnut are the most useful catsups we have for general purposes, and either is in itself a fine sauce for roast meat, cold fowl, game, etc.