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Dessert

Mincemeat

Mincemeat is a preserved fruit mixture of ox‑tongue, raisins, currants, apples, suet, spices, and alcohol.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Mincemeat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit and meat

  1. Mince the ox‑tongue, raisins, suet, currants, apples, and candied peel separately.

Mix and pack

  1. In a large bowl, mix the minced ingredients with the grated lemon rind, boiled lemons, nutmeg, salt, mace, and ginger.

  2. Add the brandy and sherry, mixing well.

  3. Press the mixture into jars and cover tightly.

Mature

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

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  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. Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,180 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

  5. Currant + appletop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,918 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

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

What each ingredient does

Ox-tongue
Provides the meaty bulk that gives the mincemeat its body and savoury depth.
Beef kidney suet
Adds fat that keeps the mixture moist and rich as it matures.
Raisins
Contribute sweetness and chewy moisture to the filling.
Currants
Add concentrated sweetness and fruity body to the mixture.
Fine sugar
Sweetens the mixture and helps preserve it along with the spirits.
Brandy
Adds alcohol that helps preserve the mincemeat and gives aroma.

The step that matters

Store for a few days before using. Resting lets the spirits, sugar and spices soak into the fruit and meat and blend the flavours. Using it straight away gives a harsher, less rounded taste.

Swap the mace

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

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

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

More mincemeat recipes

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