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Dessert

Mince Meat

A spiced mixture of cooked beef, suet, apples, dried fruit, citron and spirits or cider, given in three versions.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Landmarks Club · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 54 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and cider are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,238 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Mince Meat

makes twenty-one pints

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the meat

  1. Boil the meat.

  2. Save the water the meat was cooked in to wet the mixture with.

  3. Mix the chopped suet with the lean cold boiled beef.

  4. After chopping the meat fine, add the suet and apple, also chopped fine.

Combine and finish

  1. Add the twelve pounds of good cooking apples, also chopped.

  2. Mix thoroughly.

  3. Add the juice and grated rind of three lemons, one quart each of boiled cider, molasses and brandy.

  4. Dissolve the sugar in the wine and dried currants.

  5. Add one ounce mixed and ground spices, one-half brandy, the rind and juice of oranges and lemons, and the spices.

  6. Pour this liquid over the meat.

  7. This will make twenty-one pints.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

603Calories
30 gProtein
18 gFat
83 gCarbs

Counts 16 of 21 ingredients. The other 5 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 16 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Apple1 medium (182g)95
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cloves1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Allspice1 tsp ground (1.9g)5
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Brandynot in our table0
Cidernot in our table0
Fruitnot in our table0
Meatnot in our table0
Macenot 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.

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

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

  2. Brandy + sherrytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Sherry + cidertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together143 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl pentanoate (yeast, fruit).

  4. Vinegar + cidertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  5. Brandy + cidertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together404 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

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

What each ingredient does

Lean cold boiled beef
Provides the bulk and savoury meaty body of the mincemeat.
Suet
Adds fat that gives a rich, moist texture to the filling.
Apples
Add moisture, body and tartness that balance the sweetness.
Brown sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps preserve it.
Brandy
Adds aroma and helps preserve the mixture.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, brandy, sherry, vinegar, cider, sugar, currant):

  1. Plumfits better
  2. Apricotfits better
  3. Pearfits better
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against apple, brandy, sherry, vinegar, cider, sugar, currant. 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 mincemeat recipes

Mock Pie 26Pie 21Lemon 15Fritters 14Green Tomato 13Pies 13 See all 120 →

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