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Minced Meat

A savory mixture of boiled beef, suet, apples, raisins, currants, citron, spices, pecans, sugar, cherry, and brandy.

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

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 ↓

Minced Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the meat and fruit

  1. Boil the beef until tender.

  2. Let the boiled beef cool, then chop it finely.

  3. Mince the beef suet, ensuring it is clear of strings.

  4. Peel and chop the apples.

Combine and season

  1. Combine the apples with the minced beef, suet, raisins, currants, and chopped citron in a large bowl.

  2. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, ground mace, chopped pecans, and coarse sea salt to the mixture.

  3. Stir in the sugar, cherry, and brandy 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.

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. 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. Nutmeg + clovetop 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. Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

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 bulk that gives the mincemeat its texture.
Beef suet
Adds richness and fat that keeps the filling moist and tender.
Apples
Contribute moisture and tartness that balance the sweetness.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps preserve it.
Brandy
Adds aroma and helps preserve the mixture.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.

Swap the currant

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

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

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