Skip to main content
Main

Mince Meat

A mixture of chopped apples, beef, raisins, suet, spices, and cider, used as a savory filling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg 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 ↓

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop the apples, beef, raisins, and suet finely.

  2. In a large bowl, mix the chopped apples, beef, raisins, suet, and brown sugar.

  3. Add the cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to the mixture.

Finish

  1. Moisten the mixture with boiled cider until it reaches the desired consistency.

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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Beef
Provides the meaty body and rich savory base of the mincemeat.
Beef suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich in texture.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.
Apples
Contribute moisture, tartness and body to the filling.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a molasses-like depth of flavor.
Boiled cider
Moistens the mixture and adds concentrated fruity acidity and sweetness.

The step that matters

Moistening with boiled cider. Cider must be added gradually until the mixture reaches the desired consistency. Too little leaves the filling dry and crumbly, while too much makes it wet and prone to sogginess. Stirring in small amounts lets you judge the texture as you go.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, beef, sugar, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, cider):

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

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

You might also like

Roast BeefRoast Beef211 recipesBeef LoafBeef Loaf175 recipesCorned BeefCorned Beef87 recipesBeef BrothBeef Broth67 recipes