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Mince Meat

A preserved mixture of beef, apples, currants, raisins, spices, sugar, molasses, cider, and suet.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,390 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, combine the chopped beef, tart apples, currants, citron, raisins, brown sugar, molasses, cider, and chopped suet.

  2. Add the salt, cinnamon, grated nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice to the mixture and mix well until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.

  3. Scald the mixture well to ensure preservation.

  4. Store in a cool place; it will keep for a long time.

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

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

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

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

  3. Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,598 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

  5. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Chopped beef
Provides the meaty body and richness that defines the mincemeat.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps preserve the mixture.
Molasses
Adds dark color, deep sweetness and moisture to the filling.
Chopped suet
Adds fat that gives a rich, moist texture as the mixture stands.
Tart apples
Add acidity and moisture, balancing the sweetness of the sugar and molasses.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture to the filling.

Swap the currant

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, apple, raisin, sugar, molasses, cider, 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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