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Dessert

Mince Meat

A preserved mixture of chopped meat, apples, raisins, currants, butter, sugar, spices, and liquids.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and grape match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,659 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Mix

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well until fully combined.

  2. Transfer to a tightly covered jar.

Rest

  1. Let it stand for 24 hours before using.

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. Apple + grapetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,659 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  2. Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,180 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

  3. Apple + curranttop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,918 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

  4. Apple + raisintop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Chopped apples
Adds moisture and tartness, and softens into the body of the mixture.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and deepens the flavour as the mixture rests.
Butter or dripping
Adds fat for richness and a smoother, rounder mouthfeel.
Chopped raisins
Adds concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.
Currants
Adds concentrated fruit sweetness and chewy texture.
Grape juice or coffee
Adds liquid that moistens the fruit and carries the spices through the mixture.

The step that matters

Let it stand for 24 hours before using.. Resting lets the spices, sugar and fruit juices spread through the mixture and soften the fruit, so the flavour becomes more blended and rounded. Using it straight away gives a sharper, less unified taste.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, apple, raisin, butter, sugar, grape, coffee):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, apple, raisin, butter, sugar, grape, coffee. 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 mince meat recipes

Pie Filling 11Pie 10with Apples 9Preserved 8Apple 7Mock 7 See all 183 →

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