Name: Mince Pie
Ingredients: 1 spoonful of mace; 3 gills of brandy; a gill of brandy; four lbs; 1 1/2 lbs; 2 lbs; 1 1/2 pts; 1 great spoonful of cloves; 3 nutmegs grated

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 ↓

Mince Pie

Ingredients

Directions

MRS. OLIVER HASTINGS, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.
_Contributed by Mrs. Morris Longstreth, Philadelphia, Pa._
Four lbs. boiled meat, 1½ lbs. suet, 2 lbs. chopped raisins, 1½ lbs. currants, 1½ pts. of water in which the meat was boiled, 1 great spoonful of cloves, allspice, cinnamon, 3 of salt, 1 pt. of molasses, 1¼ lb. brown sugar, 3 nutmegs grated, 1 spoonful of mace, 3 gills of brandy, 1½ pts. cider, 1 pt. sherry wine, citron at pleasure. Meat and suet to be chopped very fine and all thoroughly mixed. In 2 weeks add a gill of brandy. Add chopped apple to this meat as each pie is made.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

19Calories

0 gProtein

1 gFat

2 gCarbs

Counts 2 of 4 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 2 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Mace	not in our table	0
Brandy	not in our table	0

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

By Jacqueline Harrison Smith (ed.). Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,686 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,557 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Mace + clovetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together8,400 recipes

Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
Brandy + clovetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,362 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Brandy + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,311 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).