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Mince Meat

A spiced minced beef mixture with suet, raisins, currants, apples, cider, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, combine chopped beef, suet, raisins, currants or cherries, brown sugar, and cider (or water and vinegar).

  2. Add chopped citron, juice and zest of lemons, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt.

  3. Mix well and let sit for a few hours to meld flavors.

  4. Stir in chopped apples before using.

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. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  3. Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,950 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,070 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  5. Currant + cidertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together500 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

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 richness that defines the mincemeat.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich as it sits.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the mixture.
Cider
Supplies liquid and acidity that blend the spices and fruit together.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.
Apples
Add moisture and a fresh, tart bite against the rich filling.

The step that matters

Let the mixture sit before adding the apples. Resting lets the spices, sugar, and liquid meld into a unified flavor. Adding the apples last keeps their texture firm and bright rather than breaking down during the long rest.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, raisin, sugar, cider, lemon, clove, cinnamon):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, raisin, sugar, cider, lemon, clove, 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.

More mince meat recipes

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

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