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New England Mince Meat

A stew of chopped meat, apples, molasses, sugar, spices, and raisins simmered until soft.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

New England Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large pot.

  2. Add enough water or fruit juice to achieve a soft consistency.

  3. Stew the mixture slowly for 2 hours.

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

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  4. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,774 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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 body and bulk that gives the mincemeat its substance.
Chopped apples
Add moisture and tartness, helping the mixture soften and stay moist as it stews.
Molasses
Adds dark sweetness and depth, and helps keep the mixture moist.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the mixture during long cooking.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture as they soften in the stew.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the rich, sweet flavors.

The step that matters

Stewing slowly for 2 hours. Gentle, slow stewing lets the meat, apples and fruit soften evenly and blend the spices without scorching the sugar and molasses on the bottom of the pot. Stirring and keeping the heat low helps prevent sticking and uneven texture.

Swap the apple

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, molasses, sugar, pepper, cinnamon, clove, raisin. 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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