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Mince Meat

A preserved meat mixture of tongue, suet, raisins, spices, and alcohol.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 23 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 ↓

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit and meat

  1. Chop the calves’ tongues very fine.

  2. Mix the chopped tongues with sugar, raisins, currants, and citron.

  3. Chop the apples very fine.

  4. Add the chopped apples to the mixture along with the spices. Mix thoroughly.

Add the liquors and pack

  1. Pour 2 quarts of whiskey, 1 quart of brandy, and all liquors over the mixture, along with the rind and juice of the oranges and lemons.

  2. Transfer the mixture to a 12-quart stone jar with a lid. Press down thoroughly with your hand.

  3. Add enough whiskey to cover.

Age and use

  1. Cover the top with two white cloths and secure the lid. Tie two cloths over the lid of the jar.

  2. Store in a cool place for about three weeks.

  3. After two weeks, taste and adjust salt and spices if needed.

  4. Let stand for at least four weeks before using.

  5. When making into pies, enhance with more orange juice, maraschino, and brandy.

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. Orange + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,987 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,774 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  5. Orange + appletop 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

Calves’ tongues
Provide the meaty body of the mincemeat filling.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich in texture.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps preserve it.
Apples
Add moisture and tartness that balance the sweetness.
Whiskey
Acts as a preservative and keeps the mixture from spoiling during aging.
Sultana raisins
Add sweetness and chewy texture to the filling.

The step that matters

Keeping the mixture covered in liquor. Alcohol inhibits microbial growth, so the meat and fruit stay safe only if fully submerged and sealed during the long aging period. Exposed surfaces can spoil.

Swap the currant

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

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

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