Welcome to another episode of Eating the Past. I'm Laura Gelfand, and I just got back from a short trip to the UK where they are all geared up for the holidays. I have to say, the Brits really know how to make Christmas as festive as possible. Maybe it's because its so far north that the days are ridiculously short, or perhaps because the sun never shines. In any case, while there I was reminded of the popularity of mince pies as a Christmas treat. Mince pies are not nearly as popular here, but they are very pretty for parties, and as with all foods associated with the holidays, they have a really interesting history.
Mince is, of course, short for mincemeat and up until fairly recently mincemeat pies did have meat in them. Lots of it. In fact, many modern recipes still call for suet, which is definitely not suitable for vegetarians. When I was hunting for more information about mincemeat it became abundantly clear that there are still plenty of people who enjoy the combination of fruit, meat, and spices and there are now shortage of recipes online. That said, there are lots of meat-free versions as well.
Spice is the key to mincemeat, and when the crusaders stared bringing spices back to England, cooks started incorporating them into a variety of dishes. Mince pies quickly became a Christmas tradition in part because of their ingredients-spices and dried citrus and other fruits-are expensive, so they really were a treat. But also once mincemeat was made it was easy to preserve for a long time, so saving it for the shortest and darkest days of the year also makes good sense.
Initially mince pies were much, much bigger and they were shaped into a rectangle called a coffin, word that initially just meant box and only took on its more morbid connotations in the 16th century. The rectangular shape was supposed to resemble Christ's cradle, and the latticed tops were reminiscent of his swaddling clothes.
In 1413 King Henry VIII served mincemeat pie at his coronation and it was know to be his favorite Christmas dish. Since Henry was n influencer in every sense of the word, we might be able to pin the early popularity of mince pies on him and his trendsetting ways.
The Receipt Book written by an Oxford shire aristocrat in 1609 has a recipe for mincemeat made of equal parts of mutton, beef suet, currents, and raisins with ginger, mace, nutmeg, cinnamon, orange rind, and just a tiny amount of sugar. Yech.
Oliver Cromwell banned mince pies, although they were not illegal. However, mince pies were certainly frowned upon by the Puritans, so we can add mince pies to their long list of things to be frowned upon. A book from 1656 called "Christmas Day" pokes fun at their prudish zealotry by satirically calling mince pies "idolatry in a crust."
After the restoration, mince pies took on their circular shape, but they were still huge, some weighed up to 20 pounds.
Mince pies immediately gained their popularity during the restoration, the the 17th century English diarist, Samuel Pepys, viewed them as an essential part of the Christmas feast. He laments that his wife was too ill to make them in 1662, and happily reports that she stayed up until 4:00 in the morning supervising the cooking of the pies by her servants in 1666.
in the 18th century, mince pies took on their current form, primarily meatless, and so small that they are eaten in a bit or two. They really are a delicious and appropriately celebratory holiday treat.
Thank you for joining me this week. I hope that all of you have wonderful holiday with family, friends, and plenty of festive food.
