Name: Mince Meat
Ingredients: 7 pounds currants, well picked and cleaned; 3.5 pounds finely chopped beef suet; 3.5 pounds lean sirloin of beef, minced raw; 3.5 pounds finely chopped apples (Golden Pippins); 0.5 pound citron, cut small; 0.5 pound lemon peel, cut small; 0.5 pound orange peel, cut small; 2 pounds fine moist sugar

Why it works: Lemon and orange match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Mince Meat

Ingredients

7 pounds currants, well picked and cleaned
3.5 pounds finely chopped beef suet
3.5 pounds lean sirloin of beef, minced raw
3.5 pounds finely chopped apples (Golden Pippins)
0.5 pound citron, cut small
0.5 pound lemon peel, cut small
0.5 pound orange peel, cut small
2 pounds fine moist sugar

Directions

Combine the currants, beef suet, minced beef, and chopped apples in a large bowl.
Add the citron, lemon peel, orange peel, and sugar to the mixture, then mix thoroughly until all ingredients are well combined.
Store in a cool place until ready to use.

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.

Lemon + orangetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,634 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Apple + orangetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,230 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Currant + appletop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,918 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,551 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Currant + orangetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,034 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef suet: Adds fat that keeps the mixture moist and rich as it matures.
Minced sirloin beef: Provides meaty body and texture within the mincemeat.
Currants: Supply concentrated sweetness and chewy texture throughout the mixture.
Apples: Add moisture and tartness that balance the sugar and richness.
Sugar: Sweetens the mixture and helps preserve it during storage.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, apple, lemon, orange, sugar):

Cranberryfits better
Figfits better
Pearfits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, apple, lemon, orange, sugar. 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.

Lemon Sauce236 recipes

Roast Beef211 recipes

Beef Loaf175 recipes

Corned Beef87 recipes

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Mince Meat

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Explore the science

The flavor team

What each ingredient does

Swap the currant

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