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Dessert

English Mincemeat

A preserved mixture of currants, raisins, apples, lemon rinds, suet, spices, and brandy, stored for at least a month.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and mace 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 Mincemeat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit

  1. Chop the suet finely.

  2. Wash and pick the currants.

  3. Stone and quarter the raisins.

  4. Chop the apples.

  5. Pare the lemons thinly.

  6. Simmer the rinds in a little water until tender.

  7. Pound the lemon rinds or rub them through a fine sieve.

Mix and store

  1. Mix all ingredients well together.

  2. Press the mixture into a jar, cover closely, and keep in a cool, dry place for at least one month 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. Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  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

Suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich as it matures.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps preserve it during storage.
Brandy
Adds aroma and helps preserve the mixture.
Currants
Provide chewy texture and concentrated fruit sweetness.
Raisins
Provide chewy texture and concentrated fruit sweetness.
Apples
Add moisture and tartness that balances the sweetness.

The step that matters

Keep the jar cool, dry and closed for at least a month. Time lets the flavors blend and mellow. Sealing the jar limits air and moisture, which helps prevent spoilage and fermentation before the mincemeat is used.

Swap the mace

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against currant, raisin, lemon, apple, brandy, sugar, 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.

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