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Moulded Mincemeat

A baked mixture of lean meat, onion, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Meat and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,924 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Moulded Mincemeat

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Mix all ingredients together until well combined and let stand for 30 minutes.

  2. Grease a deep bowl with butter and press the mixture into it.

  3. Cover the bowl with a plate and place it in a pan of water.

Bake and serve

  1. Cook in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.

  2. Carefully turn out and serve with your choice of sauce.

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. Meat + breadtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,924 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Onion + breadtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,676 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Meat + oniontop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,364 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Bread + white peppertop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together925 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Onion + white peppertop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

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

What each ingredient does

Lean meat
Provides the main body and protein structure that holds the moulded shape when cooked.
Fine bread crumbs
Absorb meat juices and help the mixture hold together as it sets.
Gravy from meat
Adds moisture and flavour so the mixture stays tender rather than drying out.

The step that matters

Cover the bowl and set it in water. The covered bowl in a water bath traps steam and moderates the heat, so the mixture cooks gently and stays moist instead of drying or toughening at the edges.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, onion, bread):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, onion, bread. 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.

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