Skip to main content
Main

Mince Meat

A sweet and spiced minced beef filling for pies, made with apples, raisins, currants, spices, sugar, cider, and pickled blackberries.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Goff, May Perrin, [from old catalog] ed · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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 ↓

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mince

  1. Make the mince as long as possible before using it, and keep it in a stone jar with a tight cover and a bladder tied over the top.

  2. Take two pounds lean fresh beef, boil it, and when cold, chop it finely.

  3. Add one pound beef suet, powdered.

  4. Add five pounds of apples, pared, cored and chopped.

  5. Add two pounds of raisins, seeded and chopped.

  6. Add one pound sultana raisins, washed and picked over.

  7. Add two pounds of currants, washed and picked over carefully.

  8. Add three-quarters of a pound of citron, cut up fine.

  9. Add two tablespoonfuls of cinnamon, one powdered nutmeg, and two tablespoonfuls of mace.

  10. Add one tablespoonful of cloves, and the same amount of allspice and fine salt.

  11. Add two and a half pounds of brown sugar.

  12. Add one quart of boiled cider, and one pint of pickled blackberries.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake the pies one day before using, and then warm them slightly before serving.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

543Calories
29 gProtein
17 gFat
72 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
Beef100g cooked250
Apple1 medium (182g)95
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Blackberry1 cup (144g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Cidernot 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 Goff, May Perrin, [from old catalog] ed. 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 + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

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

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  5. Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,774 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Lean beef
Provides the meaty body and chewy texture that gives the mince its substance.
Beef suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling rich and moist as it bakes.
Apples
Add moisture and a tart note that balances the sweetness.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps keep the filling moist.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and a chewy texture.
Boiled cider
Adds concentrated apple flavour and acidity, with liquid that moistens the filling.

The step that matters

Make the mince well ahead and store it covered. Resting the mixture lets the spices, fruit and sugar blend and mellow. A tightly covered jar limits drying and spoilage while it rests.

Swap the currant

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

  1. Figfits better
  2. Quincefits better
  3. Pearfits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, apple, raisin, cinnamon, clove, sugar, cider. 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.

You might also like

Roast BeefRoast Beef211 recipesBeef LoafBeef Loaf175 recipesCorned BeefCorned Beef87 recipesBeef BrothBeef Broth67 recipes