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Mince Meat for Pies

A savory filling of chopped meat, apples, and spices simmered with cider, vinegar, and wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and cider are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,238 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Mince Meat for Pies

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a large pot, combine the chopped meat, chopped apples, boiled cider, vinegar, brandy or wine, raisins, currants, molasses, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, sugar, salt, and pepper.

  2. Boil the mixture until the apples are soft.

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

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

  2. Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  3. Cider + brandytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together404 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  4. Brandy + curranttop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  5. Cider + curranttop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together500 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

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

What each ingredient does

Chopped meat
Forms the savory body of the filling, providing bulk and richness.
Chopped apples
Add moisture and tartness, and soften into the filling as it boils.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the filling's texture and body.
Raisins
Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness as they plump in the liquid.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the rich, sweet flavors.
Molasses
Contributes deep sweetness, dark color and a rich, slightly bitter flavor.

The step that matters

Boil until the apples are soft. The apples must cook through so they break down and blend into the mixture. Undercooked apples stay firm and separate from the filling, leaving an uneven texture.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, apple, cider, vinegar, brandy, currant, molasses):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Plumfits better
  3. Grapefits better
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, apple, cider, vinegar, brandy, currant, molasses. 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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