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Mince Meat

A savory stew of minced meat cooked with apples, molasses, vinegar, cider, raisins, brown sugar, spices, and lemon zest.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and cider are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,238 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the fruit

  1. In a large pot, combine all ingredients except the meat and spices.

  2. Boil the mixture until the raisins are tender.

Combine and finish

  1. Pour the mixture over the meat and spices.

  2. Allow to cool, then add brandy if using.

  3. If using suet, scald it before adding.

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. Apple + cidertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,238 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Vinegar + cidertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  3. Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,577 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Apple + raisintop 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

Meat
Provides savory body and richness that balances the sweet fruit.
Apples
Add moisture, bulk and a tart brightness to the mixture.
Raisins
Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness.
Light brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a moist, sticky body.
Molasses
Adds deep, dark sweetness and a rich colour.
Suet or butter
Adds fat for richness and a smooth mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Boil until the raisins are fully tender. Fruit softened fully in the pot blends evenly with the meat and spices. Undercooked raisins stay tough and firm in the finished mixture, and they will not soften further once combined.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, apple, molasses, vinegar, cider, butter, sugar):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Grapefits better
  3. Pearfits better
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, apple, molasses, vinegar, cider, butter, 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.

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