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Cheistmas Mince-meat

A spiced mixture of beef, suet, dried fruit, spices, sugar, and brandy used for pies.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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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 ↓

Cheistmas Mince-meat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the ingredients

  1. Boil the beef until tender, then let it cool and chop finely.

  2. Chop the beef suet finely.

  3. Stone and chop the raisins.

  4. Wash and dry the currants.

  5. Chop the citron and peeled apples.

  6. Powder the spices and mix them in separate bowls.

Mix and store

  1. In a large tray, layer the beef, suet, salt, pepper, sugar, apples, and other fruits.

  2. Add the spices and chopped orange peel.

  3. Pour the syrup and brandy over the mixture.

  4. Mix everything well with your hands.

  5. Store in stone jars until spring.

Make the pies

  1. To make pies, line baking plates with puff pastry, fill with the mixture, add sweet cider and a little wine, cover with a top crust, and bake until golden brown.

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. Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Allspice + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,331 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef
Provides the bulk and meaty body of the filling.
Beef suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the mixture.
Brandy
Acts as a preservative and adds aroma to the mixture.
Apples
Add moisture, tartness and body to the filling.

The step that matters

Store in stone jars until spring. Mincemeat relies on sugar, alcohol and time to mature and stay safe; sealing the mixture well and keeping it cool lets the flavours blend and prevents spoilage.

Swap the currant

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

  1. Figfits better
  2. Orangefits better
  3. Quincefits better
  4. Currantthe original

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