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Mince Meat

A sweet mixture of chopped meat, apples, raisins, molasses, and spices, cooked together and set aside.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and cider are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,238 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and transfer the mixture to a granite kettle.

  2. Heat the mixture thoroughly on the stove, then set aside for use.

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 + cidertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,238 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Vinegar + cidertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  4. Molasses + syruptop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together272 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Chopped meat
Provides the savory, bulky body that gives mincemeat its base texture.
Chopped apples
Adds moisture and tartness that balance the sweetness of the sugar and molasses.
Brown sugar
Sweetens the mixture and adds moisture and a deep caramel flavour.
Shredded suet
Adds richness and fat that carries the spices and keeps the mixture moist.
Seeded raisins
Contribute concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.
Cinnamon
Provides the warm, aromatic spice flavour characteristic of mincemeat.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, apple, sugar, molasses, vinegar, syrup, cider):

  1. Pearfits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Grapefits about as well
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, apple, sugar, molasses, vinegar, syrup, cider. 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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