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Mince Meat

A fruit and molasses-stuffed minced meat mixture cooked for an hour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine the meat, suet, and apples in a large bowl.

  2. Add the raisins, citron, figs, nutmeg, cloves, and pepper.

  3. Stir in the molasses, sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, boiled cider, and salt, then mix thoroughly and let it sit for a while.

  4. Boil the mixture for 1 hour.

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 + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Apple + figtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together238 recipes

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

  3. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

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

  5. Fig + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together404 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Meat
Provides the savory, substantial body of the filling.
Suet
Adds richness and fat that keeps the filling moist and tender.
Raisins
Contribute sweetness and chewy texture to the filling.
New orleans molasses
Adds deep sweetness and dark colour to the filling.
Granulated sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the filling.
Boiled cider
Adds concentrated fruit sweetness and acidity.

The step that matters

Boil the mixture for 1 hour. Sugar-rich mixtures can scorch on the bottom of the pan if left unattended. Stirring during the hour of simmering keeps the sugars from burning and lets the flavours blend evenly.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, raisin, fig, nutmeg, clove, pepper, molasses):

  1. Orangefits better
  2. Cherryfits about as well
  3. Limefits about as well
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, raisin, fig, nutmeg, clove, pepper, molasses. 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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