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Mince-meat for Pies

A spiced mixture of beef, suet, dried fruit, citrus peel, sugar, cider and wine used as a pie filling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Mince-meat for Pies

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mincemeat

  1. Mix all ingredients thoroughly together.

  2. If storing for a while, substitute 1 quart of brandy for the wine and use cider to keep the mixture moist enough to pack in a stone jar.

Use and store

  1. When ready to use, add an equal measure of finely chopped apples, such as Greenings or Spitzenbergs.

  2. Cover the jar with a plate and secure it with double paper.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  3. Orange + cinnamontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,437 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Orange + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,987 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,070 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef
Provides rich body and savoury depth to the filling.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and gives a rich mouthfeel.
Raisins
Contribute sweetness and chewy texture throughout the mincemeat.
Dark brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a molasses note that helps preserve the mixture.
Sweet cider
Supplies moisture so the mixture stays soft enough to pack.
Sherry
Adds acidity and aroma and helps preserve the mixture.

The step that matters

Keep the mixture moist when storing. If the mixture dries out, it becomes hard to pack and spoils more easily. Cider adds moisture and sugar and alcohol help preserve it, so the swap to brandy and cider should be made as written when storing for a while.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, raisin, orange, sugar, clove, cinnamon, cider):

  1. Applefits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Vanillafits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, raisin, orange, sugar, clove, cinnamon, cider. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.