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Mince-meat

A preserved beef dish with suet, raisins, currants, citron, apples, spices, and a sweet sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 19 ingredients
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Mince-meat

Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Mince-meat

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the beef

  1. Boil the beef in enough water to cover it, skimming off the scum as it rises.

  2. Add hot water as needed until the beef is tender.

  3. Remove the lid, add salt, and boil until almost dry, turning the meat occasionally.

  4. Let the meat cool overnight, then pick out bones and chop it finely.

  5. Mince the beef suet and combine it with the chopped meat.

Prepare the fruit and spices

  1. Seed and cut the raisins, wash and dry the currants, slice the citron, and chop the apples.

  2. In a large pan, mix the meat, suet, raisins, currants, citron, apples, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmegs, lemon juice and rinds, salt, pepper, and sugar.

Combine and pack

  1. In a porcelain kettle, combine the boiled cider (or juice), molasses (or syrup), and butter, bringing it to a boil.

  2. Pour the boiling mixture over the ingredients in the pan and mix thoroughly.

  3. Pack the mixture into jars, cover with molasses to a thickness of 1/8 inch, and seal tightly.

  4. Store in a cool place; it will keep for two months.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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 of the mincemeat, becoming tender as it simmers and then dries.
Beef suet
Adds fat that keeps the mixture moist and gives it a rich, smooth mouthfeel.
Raisins
Contribute sweetness and chewy texture, plus moisture from their natural sugars.
Apples
Add tartness and moisture that balance the sweetness of the sugar and molasses.
Sugar
Sweetens the mixture and helps preserve it by binding water.
Molasses
Adds dark color, deep sweetness, and moisture to the mixture.

The step that matters

Boiling the beef until almost dry. Cooking the meat until nearly all its liquid evaporates concentrates its flavor and reduces water, which helps the mincemeat keep without spoiling.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, raisin, apple, cinnamon, clove, ginger, nutmeg):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, raisin, apple, cinnamon, clove, ginger, 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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