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Mince-meat

A minced beef dish with apples, raisins, currants, citron, sugar, molasses, spices, citrus, and cider.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Mince-meat

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

Prepare

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

  2. Chop the beef suet and apples.

Combine and mix

  1. Combine the chopped beef, suet, apples, raisins, currants, citron, sugar, molasses, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon juice and rind, orange juice and rind, and boiled cider in a large bowl. Mix well and add more boiled cider if the mixture is not moist enough.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

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

  5. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Round of beef
Provides the bulk of the meat, which gives the mincemeat its body and savoury depth.
Beef suet
Adds fat that keeps the mixture rich and gives it a moist, tender texture.
Apples
Contribute moisture, body and tartness that balances the sweetness.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the mixture.
Boiled cider
Adds acidity and moisture, and can be added to adjust how moist the mixture is.

The step that matters

Adjusting the moisture. Mincemeat must be moist enough to hold together and keep well. Mixing thoroughly lets you judge the texture, and adding more boiled cider only if it is dry prevents a mixture that is too wet or too stiff.

Swap the currant

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, apple, raisin, sugar, molasses, 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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