Name: Very Superior Mincemeat
Ingredients: 1 pound boiled tongue; 1 pound fresh suet; 2 pounds stoned raisins; 2 pounds cleaned and dried currants; 2 pounds juicy apples, peeled and chopped; 2 ½ pounds powdered loaf sugar; 4 boiled lemons, pips removed; grated rind of 2 unboiled lemons; ½ pound candied citron; ½ pound candied orange; 2 grated nutmegs; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon pounded mace; ½ teaspoon ground ginger; ½ pint brandy; ½ pint Sherry or Madeira

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 ↓

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.

Lemon + orangetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,634 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,557 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together11,318 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,377 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
Apple + orangetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,230 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Boiled tongue: Provides the meaty base and bulk that gives the mincemeat its body.
Fresh suet: Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich as it matures.
Raisins: Supply concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.
Currants: Add sweetness and small, chewy pieces throughout the filling.
Apples: Add moisture and tartness that balances the sugar.
Powdered loaf sugar: Sweetens the mixture and helps preserve it.

Swap the mace

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

Cinnamonfits better
Allspicefits better
Cardamomfits better
Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, currant, apple, sugar, lemon, orange, nutmeg. 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.