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Mince-meat

A preserved meat mixture of beef, fruit, spices, and wine, stored in jars.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 17 ingredients
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Mince-meat

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

Mix the filling

  1. In a large pan, mix the suet, apples or plantains, currants, meat, raisins, and sweetmeats well together.

  2. Gradually add the spices: ginger, coriander, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg.

  3. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, lemon juice, wine, and brandy, then pour it over the other ingredients and stir well.

Store and use

  1. Store the mixture in close-covered jars in a cold place.

  2. When ready to use, stir from the bottom and add a little more brandy or sweet wine to moisten as needed.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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

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

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

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

  4. Apple + orangetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,230 recipes

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

  5. Orange + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,746 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich in texture.
Currants
Provide chewy body and concentrated sweetness throughout the mixture.
Raisins
Add chewiness and sweetness while helping bind the filling's moisture.
Apples
Add moisture and a tart, fresh note that balances the sweetness.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the mixture during cold storage.
Brandy
Adds aroma and preserving alcohol, and moistens the mixture when needed.

The step that matters

Storing in cold, tightly closed jars. Cold, airtight storage slows spoilage by limiting microbial growth and oxidation, so the mixture keeps well until use.

Swap the currant

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, apple, raisin, 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.

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