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Mince Meat

A preserved meat mixture of chopped beef tongue, apples, currants, raisins, citron, spices, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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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

Prepare

  1. Chop the beef tongue and apples finely.

  2. Combine the chopped tongue, apples, currants, raisins, and citron in a large bowl.

  3. Pulverize the cinnamon, mace, and cloves, then add to the mixture.

Mix, pack and seal

  1. Stir all ingredients well to combine.

  2. Pack the mixture into a jar and pour ¾ pint of brandy on top.

  3. Seal the jar tightly.

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.

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

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. 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

Beef tongue
Provides the meaty body and rich texture of the mince.
Apples
Add moisture, tartness and body that keeps the filling juicy.
Currants
Add small pockets of sweetness and a chewy texture.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and a chewy texture.
Cinnamon
Adds warm, aromatic spice flavour.
Brandy
Adds aroma and alcohol that helps keep the mixture preserved.

The step that matters

Pack the mixture into a jar, pour brandy on top, and seal tightly. The brandy layer and airtight seal limit contact with air and reduce the growth of spoilage microbes while the mince rests. A loose seal lets air in and can let the filling spoil.

Swap the mace

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

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Allspicefits better
  3. Gingerfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, apple, currant, raisin, cinnamon, clove, brandy. 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.

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