Name: Homemade Mincemeat
Ingredients: 3 pounds green tomatoes, chopped and drained; 1 cup cider vinegar; 3 pounds tart apples, chopped; 4 pounds firmly-packed brown sugar; 2 teaspoons cloves; 1 teaspoon nutmeg; 1 cup ground suet; 1 pound ground beef; 2 pounds raisins; 2 teaspoons salt; 3 teaspoons cinnamon; 1/2 cup butter or margarine; Rum or brandy to taste

Why it works: Clove and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

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.

Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,686 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Cider + appletop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,238 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,774 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,431 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Tomato + beeftop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,448 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Green tomatoes: Provide the bulk and tart body of the mincemeat base.
Tart apples: Add moisture and acidity that keep the filling fresh-tasting as it simmers.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and a molasses depth, and helps preserve the mixture.
Ground suet: Adds fat that gives the filling richness and a moist, rounded texture.
Raisins: Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness.
Cider vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the filling and helps preserve it.

The step that matters

Simmering the filling. Simmering over low heat for the full 30 to 45 minutes cooks the apples and tomatoes until tender and lets the flavours blend. Keeping the heat low prevents scorching on the bottom of the pot, since the sugar and fat can burn easily.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cider, vinegar, apple, sugar, clove, nutmeg, beef):

Capsicumfits better
Mustardfits better
Shallotfits better
Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cider, vinegar, apple, sugar, clove, nutmeg, beef. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Rum	1/2 oz (15ml)	32
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Cider	not in our table	0
Brandy	not in our table	0

Homemade Mincemeat