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Preserve

Mince Meat

A preserved fruit mixture of suet, apples, raisins, currants, citron, brandy, whiskey, lemon juice, spices, cider, and brown sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Mince Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Pound the suet until fine.

  2. Combine chopped apples, raisins, currants, and citron in a large bowl.

  3. Add brandy, whiskey, and juice from the lemons.

  4. Stir in grated nutmeg, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and salt.

  5. Mix in cider and brown sugar until well combined.

Store

  1. Store in a cool place until ready to use.

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. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Nutmeg + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,331 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

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

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Suet
Adds richness and fat that keeps the mincemeat moist and tender.
Apples
Provide bulk, moisture and tartness that balances the sweetness.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a molasses depth while helping to preserve the mixture.
Brandy
Adds alcohol that helps preserve the mixture and contributes aroma.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture throughout the filling.

Swap the currant

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against apple, raisin, brandy, lemon, nutmeg, clove, allspice. 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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