Why it works: Lemon and orange 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 ↓
Miace Meat
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a large bowl, combine the chopped beef suet, minced apples, washed currants, stoned and chopped raisins, moist sugar, chopped citron, and chopped candied peels.
Add the grated nutmegs, ground salt, ginger, allspice, cloves, lemon juice, and grated lemon peel.
Mix all ingredients thoroughly, then stir in the brandy and white wine.
Store
Transfer the mixture to a jar and store it in a cool place.
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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Lemon + orangetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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Apple + orangetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,230 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Orange + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,746 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef suet
- Adds fat that keeps the mincemeat moist and rich in texture.
- Apples
- Contribute moisture and tartness that balance the sweetness.
- Raisins
- Add chewy texture and natural sweetness.
- Currants
- Add chewy texture and concentrated fruit flavour.
- Moist sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps preserve the mixture.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and helps preserve the mixture.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, apple, raisin, sugar, lemon, orange, nutmeg):
- Figfits better
- Cranberryfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, apple, raisin, sugar, lemon, orange, 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.
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