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Mince Meat

A mixture of meat, apples, suet, citron, raisins, sugar, molasses, cider, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves.

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

  1. Combine the meat, apples, suet, citron, raisins, sugar, molasses, and cider in a large bowl.

  2. Grate the nutmeg and add it along with the cinnamon and cloves, then mix all ingredients thoroughly until well combined.

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 + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

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

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

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

  4. Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,598 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Meat
Provides the savory, rich body that gives mincemeat its characteristic texture.
Apples
Add moisture and tartness that balances the sweetness of the sugar and molasses.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich as it sits.
Raisins
Contribute concentrated sweetness and a chewy texture.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the mixture.
Molasses
Adds depth, dark color, and a rich sweetness.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, raisin, sugar, molasses, cider, nutmeg, cinnamon):

  1. Figfits about as well
  2. Applethe original
  3. Vanillafits about as well
  4. Orangefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, raisin, sugar, molasses, cider, nutmeg, cinnamon. 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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