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English Standard Mince-Meat

A mixture of beef, suet, fruit, spices, cider, and brandy used for pies.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Mace and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

English Standard Mince-Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the ingredients

  1. Chop the meat and suet finely, and season with a little salt and pepper.

  2. Cut the citron into small bits, mince the lemon rinds, and chop the raisins.

Mix and rest

  1. Mix all ingredients together and let stand for two weeks before using.

Fill the pies

  1. If the mixture is too dry, add wine, cider, or brandy when filling the pies.

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. Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

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

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

  3. Apple + orangetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,230 recipes

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

  4. Orange + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,746 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Currant + raisintop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,180 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Lean roast or boiled beef
Provides the meaty body and bulk that gives the filling its substance.
Suet
Adds rich fat that keeps the filling moist and carries flavour.
Apples
Contribute moisture and a gentle tartness that balances the sweetness.
Seedless raisins
Add natural sweetness and chewy texture to the filling.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the mixture while it rests.
Ground spices
Provide warm aroma that deepens as the mixture stands.

The step that matters

Let the mixture stand for two weeks. During resting, the spices, fruit and sugar slowly blend and mellow, and the fat and moisture distribute evenly through the mixture. Rushing this step leaves the flavours sharp and separate.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, apple, currant, raisin, sugar, orange, nutmeg):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Allspicefits better
  3. Clovefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, apple, currant, raisin, sugar, orange, nutmeg. 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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