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Mince-meat

A savory mixture of beef, suet, dried fruit, spices, and cider or grape juice.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 17 ingredients
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Mince-meat

Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Mince-meat

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the beef

  1. Boil the beef in enough water to cover it, skimming off the scum as it rises.

  2. Add hot water as needed until the beef is tender.

  3. Remove the lid, add salt, and boil until almost dry, turning the meat occasionally.

  4. Let the meat cool overnight.

Prepare the fruit and meat

  1. Pick out bones, gristle, and stringy bits, then chop the meat finely.

  2. Mince the beef suet at the same time.

  3. Seed and cut the raisins, wash and dry the currants, and slice the citron thin.

  4. Chop the tart apples finely.

Combine and mix

  1. In a large pan, combine the chopped meat, suet, raisins, currants, citron, apples, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmegs, lemon juice, lemon rind, salt, pepper, and sugar.

  2. In a porcelain kettle, combine the boiled cider or grape juice with the mixture.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef neck
Provides rich meat flavor and body once cooked and chopped into the filling.
Beef suet
Adds fat that keeps the mincemeat moist and gives a rich mouthfeel.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps preserve the mixture.
Tart apples
Add acidity and moisture that balance the sweetness and richness.
Raisins
Contribute concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.
Boiled cider
Adds acidity and concentrated fruit flavor that deepen the filling.

The step that matters

Boil the beef until almost dry. Cooking the meat until nearly all its liquid evaporates concentrates its flavor and keeps the filling from becoming watery. Stopping too early leaves excess moisture that can spoil the mincemeat.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, raisin, apple, cinnamon, clove, ginger, nutmeg):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, raisin, apple, cinnamon, clove, ginger, 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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