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Dessert

English Mince Meat

A sweet mixture of raisins, currants, suet, apples, sugar, candied peel, citrus, spices, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Orange and lemon 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 ↓

English Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Mince each ingredient separately and finely before combining.

Combine

  1. In a large bowl, mix together the minced raisins, currants, beef suet, apples, brown sugar, candied orange peel, citron, lemon rind, nutmeg, salt, and ginger.

  2. Add the French brandy and mix well.

Pack and seal

  1. Press the mixture into jars and seal tightly.

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. Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,634 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Apple + orangetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,230 recipes

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

  5. Orange + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,746 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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 mincemeat moist and gives a rich texture.
Brown sugar
Provides sweetness and moisture, and helps preserve the mixture.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy body to the filling.
Currants
Contribute small bursts of fruit sweetness and chewy texture.
Apples
Add moisture and a tart fruit base that balances the sugar.
French brandy
Adds aroma and acts as a preservative in the packed mixture.

The step that matters

Pack and seal the jars tightly. Sealing keeps air out so the mincemeat stays moist and resists spoilage while it matures. Air exposure lets surface mould and drying develop.

Swap the currant

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

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

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