Name: Mince Meat
Ingredients: 4 cups chopped meat; 1 cup chopped suet; 8 cups chopped apple; 2 cups meat liquor; 2 cups brown sugar; 2 cups molasses; 2 cups cider; 2 tablespoonfuls of salt; 2 tablespoonfuls cinnamon; 2 teaspoonfuls mace; 2 teaspoonfuls powdered cloves; 2 teaspoonfuls allspice; 1 cup of brandy; 2 tablespoonfuls rose water; two lemons; three oranges

Why it works: Cinnamon and clove 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 ↓

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.

Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Apple + cidertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,238 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,598 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,774 recipes

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

Smell alikelow

Cooked together8,400 recipes

Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

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

What each ingredient does

Chopped meat: Provides the savoury, rich body that forms the bulk of the filling.
Chopped suet: Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich as it cooks.
Chopped apple: Adds moisture and tartness that balances the sweetness of the sugar and molasses.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the filling darken and develop a deep flavour as it cooks.
Molasses: Adds dark sweetness, moisture and a rich, caramel-like flavour.
Brandy: Adds aroma and warmth, and helps carry the spice flavours through the filling.

The step that matters

Adding the brandy and rose water after cooking. Alcohol and volatile aromatic compounds evaporate when heated for long periods, so adding them after removing the filling from the stove helps keep their aroma and flavour.

Swap the mace

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

Allspicefits better
Nutmegfits better
Gingerfits better
Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, apple, sugar, molasses, cider, cinnamon, clove. 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
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Allspice	1 tsp ground (1.9g)	5
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Meat	not in our table	0
Liquor	not in our table	0
Cider	not in our table	0
Mace	not in our table	0
Brandy	not in our table	0
Rose	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Mince Meat

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

Assemble the pie

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)