Name: Port-Scented Tomato Catsup
Yield: Makes a Little More Than 6 Pints
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 2 cups white wine vinegar; 3 cups port (despite Sarah, don’t use “the best”); 1 teaspoon mustard seeds; 1 large onion, peeled and quartered; each quarter stuck with a clove; a handful of fresh herbs such as basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, and marjoram; 2 bay leaves; 1 peck (8 quarts) ripe, meaty tomatoes; 1 large celery rib; 1 tablespoon whole allspice; 1 teaspoon sugar

Preparation info

Makes a Little More Than
6 Pints

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Hoppin John’s Lowcountry Cooking

By John Martin Taylor

Published 1992

About

Tomato catsup should taste like tomatoes and spice, mellowed and blended like a fine wine. Traditionally, catsups were added to other sauces and dishes to season and finish them, not served as the sauce itself. The Carolina Housewife of 1847 includes recipes for catsups made from walnuts and mushrooms as well as tomato, wisely recommending that the cook add “the best port wine” to each bottle of tomato catsup. Port adds an intriguing roundness of flavor that the commercial brands try