To Pickle Mushrooms
From the treasured pages of Various Cookeries
Unknown Author
To Pickle Mushrooms
"Take litle Butter.ns of one nights growth, throw 'em into water & wipe 'em with salt & water and be as quick as you can in dressing 'em, then have a Tin sauce pan, let it boil very fast a quart of an hour; the faster & better so fast as you can not see 'em, & it will make the Colour better, then take 'em into a Clean Cloth & smother them till they be cold, While they cool make yo'r pickle of Claret Vinegar boil in it Mace pepper Cloves & salt, & let your pickle cool & put 'em together & let 'em stand a Week, then pour your pickle from 'em & put new pickle to, & when 'tis cold put 'em up & Do not put 'em into too large a pott, so - take Mutton suet & render it from the skin, pour it into the pickle not too hott, so keep 'em for use."
Note on the Original Text
Written in the imperative style common for the era, the recipe is direct but assumes significant knowledge on the part of the reader—timings are approximate and ingredient quantities are left to the cook’s discretion. Spelling was not standardized (e.g., 'yo'r' for 'your', 'pott' for 'pot'), and punctuation is sparse. The term 'claret vinegar' refers to vinegar made from red wine—'claret' being a common English word for Bordeaux wine. Measuring was imprecise, so instructions like 'be as quick as you can' reflect both the vulnerability of fresh mushrooms and the absence of precise kitchen timers common today.
Title
Various Cookeries (1690)
You can also click the book image above to peruse the original tome
Writer
Unknown
Era
1690
Publisher
Unknown
Background
A delightful glimpse into late 17th-century kitchens, this book brims with recipes, methods, and culinary wisdom passed down through generations, capturing the essence of historical gastronomy.
Kindly made available by
Folger Shakespeare Library
This recipe comes from the late 1600s, a time when pickling was an essential preservation technique in English kitchens, especially before reliable refrigeration. Pickled mushrooms were a delicacy, often served alongside roasted meats or on cold collation tables. Button mushrooms, prized for their tender texture, were gathered young—sometimes after just a single night’s growth. Using suet as a protective fat seal over the finished pickle was a common method to exclude air and extend shelf life, an ingenious preservation technique predating canning.
Cooks of the period would use tin or copper saucepans to rapidly boil the mushrooms, wooden or pewter spoons for stirring, and clean linen cloths for drying and wrapping. The pickling was typically done in glazed earthenware or glass jars, and rendered suet was poured over with a ladle. A hearth or open fire provided the heat for boiling and rendering. Stoneware or glass was preferred for storage to avoid the flavor-altering effects of metal containers on acidic pickles.
Prep Time
25 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Servings
8
We've done our best to adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, but some details may still need refinement. We warmly welcome feedback from fellow cooks and culinary historians — your insights support the entire community!
Ingredients
- 18 oz button mushrooms (very small, ideally 1/2–3/4 inch in diameter)
- 4 1/4 cups water (for boiling)
- 1 tbsp salt (for cleaning water)
- 1 2/3 cups red wine vinegar
- 2–3 blades mace
- 8–10 whole black peppercorns
- 4–6 whole cloves
- 1 tbsp salt (for pickle)
- 5 oz mutton suet (or beef suet or 3.5 oz clarified butter or vegetable shortening as substitute)
Instructions
- Select the smallest, freshest button mushrooms you can find, ideally no larger than 3/4 inch across.
- Clean them quickly by wiping with a damp cloth dipped in salted water—don't soak them or they become waterlogged.
- Bring a pot of water (preferably non-reactive, like stainless steel) to a brisk boil.
- Add the mushrooms and boil them rapidly for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they've slightly shrunk and whitened—this helps preserve their color and texture.
- Lift the mushrooms out and wrap them gently in a clean kitchen towel to cool and dry.
- Meanwhile, prepare a pickling liquid by bringing red wine vinegar to a boil with whole mace, black peppercorns, cloves, and salt.
- Allow the mixture to cool, then combine it with the cooled mushrooms.
- Let them sit in this pickle for a week in a glass or stoneware jar.
- After a week, drain off the old pickle, prepare a fresh batch with the same spices, cool it, and pour it over the mushrooms.
- Once fully cool, render some mutton suet (or substitute clarified beef suet or vegetable shortening) until liquid, cool it to room temperature, and pour a thin layer over the surface of the mushrooms in their pickle jar to seal them.
- Store in a cool place and use as needed.
Estimated Calories
65 per serving
Cooking Estimates
You will spend some time cleaning, boiling, and cooling the mushrooms, then making and cooling the pickling liquid. Most of the time is hands-on, but you also need some waiting time for cooling and draining. Calories are estimated per serving, based on the small amount of suet or substitute used and the mushrooms themselves. This recipe makes about 8 servings as a side or snack.
As noted above, we have made our best effort to translate and adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, taking into account ingredients nowadays, cooking techniques, measurements, and so on. However, historical recipes often contain assumptions that require interpretation.
We'd love for anyone to help improve these adaptations. Community contributions are highly welcome. If you have suggestions, corrections, or cooking tips based on your experience with this recipe, please share them below.
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