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Mince Meat

A preserved mixture of beef suet, apples, currants, prunes, candied peels, spices, lemon juice, wine, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 19 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and orange match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Mix suet, apples, currants, prunes, sugar, and candied peels together in a large pan.

  2. Gradually add the spices, mixing thoroughly.

  3. Combine lemon juice, wine, and brandy, then pour into the mixture and stir well.

Store and serve

  1. Cover the mixture and store it in a cold place.

  2. When ready to use, stir from the bottom and add half a glass of brandy to the desired quantity.

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. Lemon + orangetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,634 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Orange + gingertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,833 recipes

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

  3. Lemon + gingertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,154 recipes

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

  4. Nutmeg + gingertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Beef suet
Adds richness and fat that keeps the mixture moist and tender.
Apples
Add moisture, body and a tart freshness that balances the sugar.
Currants
Provide chewy texture and concentrated sweetness.
Moist sugar
Sweetens the mixture and helps preserve it.
Brandy
Adds aroma and helps preserve the mixture.
Roast beef
Adds savoury meatiness and texture to the mince.

The step that matters

Storing the mixture in a cold place. The mixture relies on sugar, alcohol and cold to slow spoilage while the flavours blend. Keeping it cold and covered helps it stay safe and well-flavoured until use.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, apple, sugar, lemon, orange, nutmeg, ginger):

  1. Cranberryfits better
  2. Limefits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, apple, sugar, lemon, orange, nutmeg, ginger. 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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