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Dessert

Mincemeat

A mixture of raisins, currants, sultanas, apples, tripe, suet, mixed peel, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Mincemeat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop the apples with the fruit to prevent sticking.

  2. Chop the suet in small quantities, keeping it cool and avoiding flour.

Mix and store

  1. Mix all ingredients together.

  2. Store in stone jars.

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. Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  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. Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).

  5. Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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

What each ingredient does

Suet
Adds solid fat that gives the mincemeat richness and a moist, rich body.
Moist sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the mixture by binding up its moisture.
Brandy
Adds aroma and helps preserve the mixture.
Apples
Add moisture and a tart edge that balances the sweet dried fruit.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and a chewy texture to the mixture.

The step that matters

Chop the suet in small quantities and keep it cool. Suet is a solid fat. If it warms, it softens and smears, clumping and clinging to the knife instead of staying as distinct pieces through the fruit. Keeping it cold and chopping in small batches keeps the pieces firm and evenly spread.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, apple, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, brandy):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, apple, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, 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.

More mincemeat recipes

Mock Pie 26Pie 21Lemon 15Fritters 14Green Tomato 13Pies 13 See all 120 →

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