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Mince Pie Meat

A sweet and savory meat pie with beef, suet, apples, raisins, currants, figs, molasses, wine, and cider.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 17 ingredients
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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 Pie Meat

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a large pot, combine beef, suet, apples, raisins, currants, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, mace, and salt.

  2. Add molasses, citron, figs, wine, and cider.

  3. Heat the mixture on the stove until warmed through, then remove from heat.

  4. Once cool, stir in the brandy.

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

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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 and richness that gives the filling its substance.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and gives a rich mouthfeel.
Apples
Contribute moisture and tartness that balance the sweetness of the filling.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture throughout the filling.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the filling.
Brandy
Adds aroma and alcohol that helps preserve the mixture.

The step that matters

Stir in the brandy only after the mixture cools. Alcohol is volatile, so adding brandy to a very hot mixture lets much of its aroma evaporate. Cooling first keeps the flavour in the filling.

Swap the currant

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, apple, raisin, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, 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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