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Dessert

Fairy Fancies

A preserved fruit mixture of ox‑tongue, raisins, apples, currants, sugar, candied citrus, spices, and fortified wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Orange and lemon 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 ↓

Fairy Fancies

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Mince the ox-tongue or sirloin, raisins, and apples separately.

Mix and pack

  1. Mix all ingredients well in a bowl.

  2. Press the mixture into jars and cover tightly.

Store

  1. Store for a few days before using; it will keep for many weeks.

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. Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,634 recipes

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

  2. Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

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

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

  4. Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).

  5. 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

Ox-tongue or sirloin
Provides the meaty bulk that gives the mincemeat its substance and texture.
Raisins
Add sweetness and chewy body, and retain moisture in the filling.
Apples
Contribute moisture and tartness, giving the mixture a fresh, bright balance.
Sherry or madeira
Adds aroma and depth, and helps preserve the mixture with alcohol.
Brandy
Acts as a preservative and adds warmth and aroma to the filling.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the mixture.

The step that matters

Store for a few days before using. The mixture needs time for the spices, alcohol and fruit juices to blend and mellow. Using it straight away gives harsher, less rounded flavour.

Swap the mace

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Allspicefits better
  3. Cardamomfits better
  4. Macethe original

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

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