One of the earliest mentions of mince pies in a document was in the 16th century by Thomas Tusser who wrote about mince or ‘shred’ pies in his 1557 list of Christmas foods. Shred because the meat was shredded with a knife before filling the pies. Mince pies were also described in The Country Housewife’s Family Companion by William Ellis in 1750. Both manuscripts are part of the Cookery Collection lodged at the Brotherton Library in the University of Leeds.
Originally mincemeat, was used to fill the pies and contained poor quality meat. Ellis explains in his book - when the Lord of the Manor killed a bullock to feed the household, the spare offal was given away to the poorest in the neighbourhood. This gift of food was known as ‘dole’ and forms the origin of the word used today to describe benefit payments.
This give away meat would sometimes be ‘stinking’ through the ‘negligence of careless servants’, and Ellis’s recipe shows how to disguise the taste with sage, onion and herbs for a savoury version of mincemeat, and a few currants and spices for the sweet version we know today.
By the beginning of the First World War the recipe for mincemeat had became virtually vegetarian due in part to a magazine, The Vegetarian Messenger founded in the early 1850s. It was an influential magazine that grew out of the Temperance movement and promoted vegetarianism as a means to better health.
During each world war the magazine promoted a vegetarian diet to be more patriotic because it was less costly than meat and therefore saved vital resources. It also campaigned for the proper treatment of animals on the battlefield. A Swedish feminist Miss Lind-af-Hageby writing in the magazine recounts first hand the misery and suffering of horses at war and she recruits vegetarian mincemeat and Christmas Pudding to draw attention to her cause.
This and many other interesting facts and stories about the history of the food we eat can be found in the special collection of cookery books at the Brotherton Library, University of Leeds.
How to make mincemeat
This recipe is from a Bettys cookery course I reviewed a few years ago. If you want to ring the changes a bit substitute some of the traditional dried fruit for a few cranberries and add a few skinned pistachios instead of the walnuts. These colours look great in open mince pies.
If you do make open mince pie it might be worth blind baking the pastry shell first for 10 minutes. Then fill with mincemeat and cook at 200C for a further 5 minutes. This way you will not scorch the mincemeat.
Mincemeat
Makes 3 x 300g jars
Ingredients
- zest of 1 lemon
- 130g Bramley apple, under ripe & hard
- 170g soft brown sugar
- 65g sultanas
- 65g currants
- 100g raisins
- 70ml brandy or sherry
- juice of ½ orange
- zest of 1 orange
- 65g vegetable suet (leave out for a 'skinny' version which tastes better i think)
- a pinch of ground nutmeg
- a pinch of cinnamon
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 50g nibbed almonds
- 50g pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
- 35g good quality or hime made candied peel
Method
Zest the lemon and place the zest aside. Peel and core the apple and dice into small cubes. Place in a pan without any liquid and cook on a low heat until semi soft, about 5 minutes. Leave to cool. Place all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix well. Place the mincemeat into sterilized 300g jam jars and place a disc of silicone paper over the top and seal and label with the date. Store your mincemeat in a cool cupboard for at least three days but a month is preferable if you have time.
Note
To sterilise jars, wash thoroughly in hot, soapy water and rinse well. Place jars and lids upside down in a moderate oven 140ºC for about 30 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the jars to cool.