Why it works: Raisin and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓
Mince Meat
Ingredients
Directions
In a large bowl, combine the apples, raisins, suet, powdered sugar, currants, candied peel, and blanched almonds.
Add the port wine, brandy, lemon rinds and juice, mace, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Mix well.
Store any leftover grease for soap making, following the instructions on the soap package.
Break eggs one at a time into a saucer to check for freshness before adding to the mixture.
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.
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Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,781 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Port wine + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together127 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Currant + port winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together356 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, raisin, sugar, currant, almond, port wine, brandy):
- Figfits better
- Plumfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, raisin, sugar, currant, almond, port wine, brandy. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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