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Mincemeat

A preserved mixture of apples, beef suet, raisins, currants, mixed peel, lemon, cinnamon, sugar, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,390 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Mincemeat

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine the chopped apples, beef suet, chopped raisins, sultana raisins, currants, mixed peel, lemon juice and rind, cinnamon, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and mix thoroughly until all ingredients are well combined.

  2. Cover and let the mixture sit for 4 to 5 weeks to improve the flavor before using.

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  3. Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,950 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,180 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

Cinnamon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Apples
Add moisture and tartness that balances the sugar and rich fruit.
Beef suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich in texture.
Sugar
Sweetens the mixture and helps preserve it during storage.
Raisins
Provide chewy texture and concentrated sweetness.
Currants
Add concentrated fruit flavor and chewy texture.

The step that matters

Resting the mixture for 4 to 5 weeks. Time lets the sugar, fruit and spices blend and mellow, while the sugar draws moisture from the fruit to help preserve the mixture. Covering it keeps it from drying out or picking up contaminants during the rest.

“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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