Christmas Mince Pies.   

‘The following is a valued receipt that has been handed down in a Cornish family for many generations,
and the hand-writing of the receipt book will vouch for its antiquity.
‘A pound of beef-suet chopped fine;
a pound of raisins do. stoned.
A pound of currants cleaned dry.
A pound of apples chopped fine.
Two or three eggs.
Allspice beat very fine, and sugar to your taste.
A little salt, and as much brandy and wine as you like.
An ancient Cornish custom at Christmas.”
A small piece of citron in each pie is an improvement.’
From: 1833 Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern by William Sandys.

Mince meat pies, or Christmas or Twelfth Night pies, were always part of Christmas feasts. Originally the mince pies were oblong or oval but in the 1600’s, the pies became circular, although were quite large and could weigh up to 20 lbs. In London, they could be brought out on Lord Mayor’s Day which was the 9th of November.

Timeline of Mince Pies via Minced Pie Club.

• In the 13th century, crusaders returned from the Middle Eastern with recipes containing meat, fruit and spices mixed together, which helped preserve meat without having to smoke, dry or salt.
• 1413 King Henry served a mincemeat pie at his coronation.
• 1588 Good Hous-Wiues Treasurie by Edward Allde: meats were still cut up to be eaten with a spoon and combined with fruits and heavy spices. His recipe for Minst Pye had practically the same ingredients as modern mince pies.
• 1657 Mince Pies were banned during the reign of Oliver Cromwell, along with other Christian traditions that were classed as gluttony.
• 1659 Oliver Cromwell’s Puritan influence spread to the American British Colonies and many towns banned mincemeat pies at Christmas time.
• When pies were reintroduced in Britain, they were a lot smaller and could be served individually to guests and were named Wayfarer pies.
• 1832 Bill of Fare: no less than one hundred and eleven dishes of mince pies included.

• More Minced Pie Trivia
• When the monarchy was restored in 1660, the law regarding Minced Pies was disregarded but apparently never repealed so Mince pies are still, supposedly, illegal.
• Pastry crusts sink in the middle and are thought to resemble Jesus’ manger so sometimes a small pastry doll was put in the middle and these were called crib pies.
• Pies could last up to two months in cold weather.
• Recipes varied by region, but usually included beef, poultry and other meats, suet, sugar, raisins or currants, spices, orange and lemon peel, eggs, apples and brandy.
• Minced-meat was only supposed to be stirred clockwise, otherwise the stirrer would have bad luck in the coming year. bring bad luck for the coming year.
• Filling included cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to represent the gifts of the Magi to the infant Jesus and the star shaped pastry on top represents the star of Bethlehem.
• If you ate minced pie every day of the twelve days of Christmas you were supposed to have twelve months of happiness, especially if the pies were baked by the dozen and offered by friends.