Thistle Dew Books

Mincemeat Pies

By: Victoria R. Rumble ©

It is impossible to understand what was commonly eaten and how it was prepared at any given time in history without being familiar with the earlier history of the dish and watching how it evolved through time. A dish can often be historically authentic for any period by tweaking ingredients or technique.

Mince refers to the act of mincing or finely chopping the meat and the beauty of mincemeat was that the meat could be preserved without salting or smoking it. During medieval times small pies which could be eaten out of hand were commonly served, mincemeat being just one version.

These pies, sometimes referred to as a chewette, had various fillings. The version containing fish or chopped liver, boiled eggs, and ginger was the groundwork for later versions such as Hory’s and Evelyn’s.

A medieval receipt for Delicate Chewit (which is actually mincemeat) utilized a parboiled piece of leg of veal, cold, minced with beef suet and marrow, apple, currants, dates, preserved orange peel, pepper, salt, nutmeg and “a little” sugar. Rosewater was sprinkled over with a dusting of sugar before baking.

At some point mincemeat became associated with Christmas, the three commonly used spices representing the gifts of the Magi. The pies temporarily passed out of favor when observances of Christmas were banned by Oliver Cromwell in 1657 – a reprehensible act which crossed an ocean to establish itself in the puritanical American colonies.

Cromwell was the only non-royal to claim the title Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland. His contempt of Christmas resulted from his Puritanic faith and the belief that religion should be unadorned and free of any “popish” displays. Within two years following his death his customs were relegated to the halls of history.

John Evelyn (1620-1706) gave this receipt (recipe) for Mince Pie:

Take Eggs and Boyle them hard Peele them from their shells and weigh them to every pound of Eggs yolks and whites putt 2 pound and a half of suet mince the suet and Eggs together and season them as other mince pies. You shall not know it from flesh.

Evelyn’s pies made in the traditional manner with meat were called Neat’s tongue pies, and he gave two receipts for these.

Take 2 neats [cow] tongues and halfe boile them and when they be cold pare and mince them very small, then mince 4 [lb] Beefe suet very small by itselfe; and put in therewith 2 ounces of nutmegs, 1 pound of currans, [the same] of raisins of the sunne, and a little Sugar, a little rosewater and verjuice, [sour juice from unripe grapes or crabapples] and an apple or two minced very small. Put in a few Anniseeds and a little orange peele, and if you will salt.

Scotland’s first published cookbook appeared in 1736, and that version of mincemeat differs from the others given here in that it contains no sugar.

Take Neats Tongues, par-boil them, skin them, and mince them very fine, to each 1ib. of Meat take 2 lib. Of Sewet, mince it small, take a lib. Of Currans, half a lib. Of Raisins stoned, 3 Ounce of Cordecidron [citrus, a close substitute is candied lemon peel], 3 Ounce of Orange-peil, a Quarter of an Ounce of black Spice (a pepper blend), 2 Drop of Nutmeg, a Drop of Cloves, a Drop of Mace, 2 Pippens cut small, the Juice of 3 Lemons, mix all together, fill up the Pies, put some of the Cordecidron and Orange-peil on the Top, so send them to the Oven, forget not some Salt.

Harriott Hory began keeping a book of receipts in 1770 which she added to during the course of several years. She preserved a recipe similar to Evelyn’s Mince Pie which she called Egg Pyes. This is not to be confused with egg custard.

Take the Yolks of twenty-four Eggs boil’d hard and half the whites, chop’d with double the quantity of Beef Suet and half a pound of pippins pared, cored, and sliced. Then add to it one pound of currants wash’d and dry’d, half a pound of sugar, a little salt, some spices beaten fine, the Juice of a Lemon and half a pint of Sack, Candied Orange and Citron cut in Pieces of each three Ozs.; Fill the Pastry pans full, the Oven must not be two hott, three quarters of an hour will bake them.

Eliza Leslie’s mid-19^th century cookery contained several receipts for mince pies, one of which was similar to the egg versions and which she called Mince-meat for Lent.

A rare Bahamian cookery book written in 1660 and published privately in 1959 includes the following receipt for Mince Pies:

Take half a pound of beef; one pound of suet; 2 pounds of currants; two lemons; quarter of ounce of spice; l nutmeg; one pound of apple; half a pound of jar raisons, add some wine and brandy and a little salt. 3 quarters of a pound of sugar. Butter the plate. Bake ½ hour.

Harriet Hory’s recipe for Mince Pyes was similar to the one above.

Shred 2 lb. of lean Meat (the inside of the Sirloin is best with 3 and ½ lb. of Beefr Suet very small, Season it with One Oz. of Cloves, Mace, Cinimon and a little Salt, l lb. Sugar 8 Oz. Candied Orange and Cytron together 4 Oz. of Dates a little lemon peal shred small 3 lb. Currants 1 lb. Rasons stewd and shred the juce of 3 lemons a few Apples shred and a Pint of Sack.

These pies were at times called shred pies, so named because of the act of shredding the meat.

Lydia Maria Child included a recipe for mince in her Frugal Housewife in 1830 which called for a gill [quarter of a pint] of brandy, lemon brandy, “if any is made” was better, as the preservative.

In 1839 Sarah J. Hale gave her receipt for Rich Mince Pie which she claimed was good for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. It should be noted that she was one of the first to encourage the preparation of specific foods, and the following of specific tradition in observance of Thanksgiving. Her simpler version of Mince Pie used basically the same ingredients though not in as large a quantity.

Boil three pounds of lean beef till tender and when cold chop it fine. Chop three pounds of clear beef suet, and mix the meat, sprinkling in a tablespoon of salt. Pare, core, and chop fine six pounds of good apples, stone four pounds of raisins and chop them, wash and dry two pounds of currants; and mix them all well with the meat. Season with powdered cinnamon one spoonful, a powdered nutmeg, a little mace and a few cloves pounded; and one pound of brown sugar—Add a quart of Madeira wine and half a pound of citron cut into small bits. This mixture put down in a stone jar and closely covered will keep several weeks. It makes a rich pie for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

An 1853 cookery book claimed that mince pies would keep up to two months, and that the mincemeat itself, if properly prepared, would keep even longer.

By the 1840’s mince pies were being made without meat. The version containing meat was still popular but versions of all fruit were being recognized on their own merit resulting in the subtle change in the name from mincemeat to mince pies. The following is an 1885 version.

Take one pound of currants, one pound of peeled and chopped apples, one pound of suet chopped fine, one pound of moist brown sugar, quarter of a pound of chopped and stoned raisins, the juice of four oranges and two lemons, with the peel of one lemon chopped, and a wine-glass of brandy. Mix all carefully and put in a cool place. Eat this pie hot, and when it is baked, put in a tablespoonful of butter, but put none in the mixture.

Ann Allen included two receipts for mince pies without meat in her book in 1846. She distinguished between the two receipts made without the use of meat designating one Lemon Mince Pies though the other version also contained lemon

Eliza Leslie wrote mid-century that mince pies would keep over winter if made with good quality ingredients and with sufficient spice and liquor used. Her recipe called for a quart of Madeira and a pint of good brandy. When a quantity was removed from the jar to bake a pie additional brandy was to be poured into the jar with some more sugar before recovering the jar with brandied paper and placing it back in storage. She also instructed these pies were always to have a top crust.

Elizabeth Lea’s version in 1869 replaced the beef with pork. She instructed using trimmings left from making sausage and the meat picked from two cooked heads and seasoning as per beef pies but leaving out the suet since the pork contained adequate fat.

The 1870 Jennie June cookbook claimed mincemeat pies were not healthy and eating them once per season was quite sufficient. The author gave three receipts for these pies, however.

Rufus Estes put a different spin on mince pies in 1911 by replacing the meat with chopped walnuts.

Nut Mince Pies. One cup of walnut meats chopped fine, two cups of chopped apple, one cup of raisins, one and one half cups of sugar mixed with one teaspoon each of cinnamon and allspice, and one half teaspoon each of cloves and salt, one-half cup of vinegar, and one-half cup of water or fruit juice. Mix thoroughly. This quantity will make two large pies.

By modern times many cookbooks, like that written by award-winner James Beard, contain only the meatless versions of mincemeat, and it is not uncommon to find it used in forms other than pies, such as cookies. With the prevalence of refrigerators and freezers it would appear that as it became less important to find methods of preserving the meat its use in mincemeat declined, often to the point of not being used at all, leaving only the rich flavors of fruit and spices.

For further reading see Rumble’s Victoria’s Home Companion or Outdoor Recreation and Leisure in 19^th Century America; and the Foods that Accompanied Them.