Name: Mince Pies
Ingredients: equal quantities of fresh lemons; equal quantities of cleaned currants; equal quantities of stoned raisins; equal quantities of fresh beef suet, minced; equal quantities of good brown sugar; 1 small nutmeg, grated; a little citron, finely chopped

Why it works: Lemon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Mince Pies

Ingredients

equal quantities of fresh lemons
equal quantities of cleaned currants
equal quantities of stoned raisins
equal quantities of fresh beef suet, minced
equal quantities of good brown sugar
1 small nutmeg, grated
a little citron, finely chopped

Directions

Weigh equal quantities of lemons, currants, raisins, minced suet, and brown sugar.
Cut lemons in half, squeeze and strain the juice.
Place lemon skins in a saucepan of cold water, cover, and boil until tender.
Drain the water and pound the lemon skins in a mortar.
Mix all ingredients thoroughly, adding the lemon juice last.
Pack the mixture into small jars, cover with white paper dipped in spirits, and tie with paper.
To make pies, dust pans with flour and line them.

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.

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).
Currant + raisintop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,180 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Lemon + raisintop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,742 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

Swap the currant

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

Orangefits better
Figfits better
Limefits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, raisin, beef, sugar, nutmeg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.