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Mince Meat

A fruit and meat mixture of boiled beef, suet, apples, raisins, currants, spices, cider, and sugar, used for pies.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Chop the boiled beef, suet, and apples finely.

  2. Mix in the raisins, currants, nutmeg, cloves, citron, brown sugar, salt, and boiled cider.

Store and finish

  1. Can be stored like fruit.

  2. When ready to bake pies, add grape jelly diluted with water, a little butter, a few raisins, and sugar if needed.

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

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

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

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

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

  4. Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,774 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,070 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Boiled beef
Provides the meaty body and chewy texture that gives the filling its substance.
Suet
Adds richness and fat that keeps the filling moist and mouthfeel rounded.
Apples
Contribute moisture and tartness that balance the sweetness of the fruit and sugar.
Raisins
Add chewiness and concentrated sweetness throughout the filling.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a molasses note while helping preserve the filling.
Ground cloves
Contribute a warm, pungent aroma that defines the spiced character of the filling.

Swap the currant

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

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

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