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Old Country Mince Meat

A fruit and beef mixture with raisins, currants, apples, candied peel, and spices, preserved in a jar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Old Country Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit

  1. Stone the raisins and chop them.

  2. Wash the currants and dry them.

  3. Slice the candied peel thinly.

  4. Grate the nutmeg.

  5. Pare, core, and mince the apples.

  6. Peel the lemons and strain the juice.

Mix and store

  1. Mix all dry ingredients, including uncooked beef and suet.

  2. Add the lemon juice and brandy last.

  3. Press the mixture into a jar that excludes air.

  4. Set aside for two weeks 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. Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  4. Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,180 recipes

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

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

Raisins
Provide sweetness and chewy body as they soften in the mixture.
Chopped beef suet
Adds richness and fat that keeps the mincemeat moist and smooth.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps preserve the mixture.
Brandy
Adds aroma and alcohol that helps preserve the mixture during storage.
Apples
Add moisture and tartness that balances the sweetness of the sugar and fruit.

The step that matters

Press the mixture into a jar that excludes air. Limiting air contact reduces oxidation and spoilage while the mixture rests, so the flavours can meld over the storage period.

Swap the currant

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

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

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

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