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Mince Meat

A spiced beef mixture with apples, raisins, currants, and spices, used in pies.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 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 Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the meat and fruit

  1. Boil the beef until tender, then chop it fine.

  2. Chop the beef suet and apples finely.

  3. Combine the beef, suet, apples, raisins, currants, and citron in a large bowl.

Season and store

  1. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, salt, brown sugar, wine, brandy, and the meat boiling liquor.

  2. Mix well and store in a stone jar covered with double paper.

  3. Prepare at least one day before using.

Use for pies

  1. When making pies, add a little more wine and chopped apples to the mixture.

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. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Nutmeg + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,331 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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 bulk of the mincemeat once boiled and chopped.
Beef suet
Adds richness and a soft, moist texture as it melts during baking.
Apples
Contribute moisture, tartness, and body that balances the sweetness.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the mixture while it matures.
Brandy
Adds aroma and helps preserve the mixture during storage.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.

The step that matters

Storing the mixture to mature. The mixture needs to rest at least one day so the spices, wine and brandy blend into the meat and fruit. Storing it covered in a stone jar with double paper keeps it sealed against air and contamination while it matures.

Swap the currant

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, apple, raisin, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, allspice. 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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