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Mince Meat

A sweet meat mixture of chopped meat, apples, cider, molasses, raisins, sugar, salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmegs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,390 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine two quarts chopped meat, four quarts apple, two quarts sweet cider, one quart molasses, four teacups sugar, two tablespoonfuls salt, two teaspoons pepper, seven teaspoons each of cinnamon and cloves, four nutmegs, and two pounds raisins, and mix well.

  2. Cook for two hours.

  3. Add one pint sweet cider.

  4. When making your mince meat, put in a few quinces, finely chopped.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

288Calories
2 gProtein
2 gFat
73 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 10 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Apple1 medium (182g)95
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Meatnot in our table0
Cidernot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

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. See the original page.

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. Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

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

  2. Apple + cidertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,238 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,598 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  4. Pepper + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,890 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  5. Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Cinnamon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Chopped meat
Forms the bulk of the filling and gives it its savoury body.
Apple
Adds moisture and tartness that balance the sweetness of the filling.
Molasses
Adds dark sweetness and a deep flavour to the mixture.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture as they soften during cooking.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, apple, cider, molasses, pepper, cinnamon, sugar):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Plumfits better
  3. Pearfits about as well
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, apple, cider, molasses, pepper, cinnamon, sugar. 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.

More mince meat recipes

Pie Filling 11Pie 10with Apples 9Preserved 8Apple 7Mock 7 See all 183 →

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