From my last few posts, it’s clear that I love holiday sweets. Gingerbread is a holiday staple and eggnog might be my favorite holiday treat. But there’s another one that I haven’t written about — mincemeat pie.
First, let me clarify. Most mincemeat pies do NOT have meat in them. They are made with dried fruits and spices. While we call them mincemeat in New England, apparently in most other places, they’re called mince.
Personally, I’ve never made a mincemeat pie. One of my mom’s sisters, is the pie maker for our holiday meals and we are often blessed with one of her mincemeat pies. After a brief Twitter exchange with someone, I realized that not all families are so blessed! We had one for Thanksgiving and I’m hopeful for Christmas too! Served warm with vanilla ice cream, it’s a carousel of delicious flavors and textures.
I started wondering if enjoying mincemeat pies is more of a regional thing. The pie does have its roots in England. Growing up in New England may have skewed my views. Although for a period of time, Connecticut banned mincemeat pies. Those Puritans were no joke.
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Mincemeat pie is a holiday treat that has been enjoyed by many for a very long time, according to a recent article on Haiwatha World.
Mincemeat pie finds its roots in the 11th century — the Crusades, to be more precise. Returning crusaders brought back valuable spices — cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg — from the Holy Land, and these three spices were used to season a special “Christmas pie,” to represent the three gifts of the Magi to the infant Jesus Christ. Christmas pies were small, and could be eaten in a few bites. These pies were made in an oblong shape to resemble a cradle, and space was left for a Christ child figure to be placed on top. (The figure was removed before eating.) It was considered to be lucky to eat one Christmas pie for each of the twelve days of Christmas, between December 25 and Epiphany, January 6. The mincemeat filling of these pies was indeed almost entirely meat, but cooked with rum and spices, which acted as a preservative, as well as giving it its distinctive flavor.
With my increasing interest in all things mincemeat pie, I decided to do some additional research on the latest news and have assembled a roundup for your (and my) holiday reading pleasure. Enjoy!
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– Here’s a recipe for a boozy Baileys mince pie.
– Selfridges was selling a mini mince pie advent calendar.
– Mince pie filled cookies are a thing!
– A mince pie sandwich is also a thing.
– Is mince pie flavored popcorn going too far?!
– Caffè Nero is offering mince pies in the UK for the Christmas season, but not in the US. Not even in New England.
– Here’s a recipe for mincemeat crumble cake.
– The Helen M. Kelly Memorial Mince Pie has been in this family’s fridge since 1988.
– Mince pie bao buns are for sale on Amazon Fresh UK.
– Parenthood won the best Thanksgiving TV dinner and the mincemeat pie had a lot to do with it.
– Grocery story Lidl has mince pie ice cream!
– A Dublin restaurant took the meat part of mincemeat too literally for Professor Darryl Jones.
– An American website had a similar meat problem with its mincemeat pie recipe.
– Try Queen Elizabeth’s royal recipe for mince pie. No meat included!
– If you’re ready to go absolutely medieval, try this mincemeat pie recipe that includes pork shoulder roast and bacon.
– And guess who has never tried mincemeat pie? I apologize in advance.
