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Mince Pie

A savory pie made with beef, suet, fruit, spices, and wine, baked in stone jars.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon 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 Pie

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the meat and fruit

  1. Boil the beef until well done, then let it cool and chop it finely.

  2. Chop the suet and apples, then add them to the beef.

  3. Combine the raisins, currants, citron, lemon rind, and orange rind.

Make the liquid and combine

  1. Mix the brown sugar and spices, then add the Madeira wine, brandy, lemon juice, and orange juice.

  2. Gradually mix all three sets of ingredients, adding the salt to the liquid part.

Store

  1. Pack the mixture into stone jars, cover closely, and store in a dry, cool place.

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 + cinnamontop 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. Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

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

  5. Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef tenderloin
Provides the bulk of the filling, giving it a meaty body once cooked and chopped.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich as it matures.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a moist, molasses-like depth to the filling.
Brandy
Adds alcoholic aroma and acts as a preservative that helps the mixture keep.
Apples
Contribute moisture and tartness that balances the sweetness of the sugar and fruit.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture throughout the filling.

Swap the currant

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, sugar, raisin, mace, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove. 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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Mock 45Filling 14Lemon 8Fruit 5Patties 5Christmas 4 See all 109 →

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