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Mince Meat

A minced meat filling made from boiled beef feet, suet, raisins, citron, apples, and wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Wine and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,427 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, sweet. The science ↓

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the meat

  1. Clean and boil the beef feet until tender.

  2. Remove the oil and jelly, then take out all bones.

  3. Chop the remaining glutinous substance very fine.

Make the mincemeat

  1. In a pot, combine the chopped substance, suet, raisins, citron, apples, and wine.

  2. Boil for 5 to 10 minutes.

  3. Pour into a bowl and let it cool.

Use

  1. Slice and use in pies, adding a little brandy if desired.

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. Wine + brandytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,427 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  2. Apple + winetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,207 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  3. Apple + brandytop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,291 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Raisin + brandytop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Raisin + appletop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef feet
Provides gelatin, which gives the mincemeat a rich, set body when cooled.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich-tasting.
Raisins
Adds concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.
Citron
Adds candied citrus flavor and aroma.
Apples
Add moisture and tartness that balances the sweetness.
Wine
Adds acidity and liquid that carries the flavors together.

The step that matters

Chop the glutinous substance very fine. Fine chopping spreads the gelatin-rich meat evenly through the filling so it sets smoothly and does not form large, chewy pieces when cooled.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, apple, wine, brandy):

  1. Grapefits better
  2. Plumfits better
  3. Apricotfits better
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, apple, wine, brandy. 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.

More mince meat recipes

Pie Filling 11Pie 10with Apples 9Preserved 8Apple 7Mock 7 See all 183 →

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