Mincemeat pie is a dish that isn't very common in the American kitchen, which can lead to some confusion for cooks, even those on the Allrecipes staff. While discussing this classic Christmas dish, a group of us realized that we were unsure if traditional mincemeat filling actually contains meat, and so my deep-dive into the pie's history began. After a brief interview with a British food historian, and driving two hours round-trip to a rural library to pick up a copy of The Christmas Encyclopedia by William D. Crump, I've finally learned the history behind this mysterious pastry.
According to The Christmas Encyclopedia, mincemeat pie — also commonly referred to as mince pie or Christmas pie — originated in medieval England. After knights returning from the Crusades came back with spices in-tow, they became common ingredients of the dish along with minced bits of meat (from a range of animals), suet, apples, sugar, raisins, and molasses. "They were about 30 to 50 percent meat in the late Tudor era," says food historian Annie Gray, Ph.D. "And the meat content dwindled slowly over the next 300 years — part of a wider process of distinguishing sweet from savory and delineating which foods sat in which course in meals."
During Henry VIII's reign, he began phasing out Catholic properties and seizing them in the Dissolution of the Monasteries that started in 1536. Richard Whiting, the abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, tried to curb the king's greed by secretly sending him a mincemeat pie containing hidden deeds to several of the abbey's costliest estates. A few of these deeds were stolen by Whiting's servant, Thomas Horner, who was immortalized for his deed in the nursery rhyme "Little Jack Horner." Despite Whiting's attempt to save it, Glastonbury Abbey was later seized by Henry, and — according to The Last Abbot of Glastonbury and Other Essays by Francis Aidan Gasquet — Whiting and two of his priests were hanged for treason.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, mincemeat pie went beyond just a holiday treat and also offered significant symbolism. Around Christmas, it was popular to bake an elaborate pie that had dough resembling baby Jesus and included spices and sweetmeats as representatives of the gifts from the visiting Magi. This practice was often associated with Roman Catholicism, which prompted the Puritans — in both England and American colonies — to outlaw mincemeat pie due to its idolatrous nature.
"By the end of the [19th century] it was fairly rare to find actual meat in [mincemeat], though of course, the suet was beef," says Gray. "Fully vegetarian mincemeat pies had to wait until veggie suet was invented," which would have come to fruition around the early 20th century due to the invention of Crisco, the world's first all-vegetable based solid fat.
Today, mincemeat pie has significantly less religious and political implications in our society than in the past. Nowadays, it's easy to find mincemeat pies still made with beef suet and a small amount of minced meats (usually beef). All-vegetarian mincemeat pies are readily available as well, especially if you purchase a premade jar of mincemeat filling. If you're interested in trying this richly historied pastry, try baking both meat and vegetarian versions to learn which you like best. An easy starting place is with our recipes listed below.
Does Mincemeat Pie Really Have Meat in It? Historically, mincemeat pie did contain meat, such as mutton, beef, or even game meats, alongside fruits and spices. However, modern versions focus on a delectable, sweet blend of dried fruits, spices, and sometimes rum or brandy.
More often than not, mincemeat today doesn't contain actual meat, but it can contain meat. There are lots of variations on mincemeat. In the U.S., bakers often add fresh and dried cranberries, walnuts or blanched almonds, dried currants, dates, meat (beef, lamb or chicken) and beef suet or butter.
The mincemeat filling we know and love today includes ingredients like finely chopped dried fruits, candied orange, spices, sugar and nuts. Its name dates back to 15th century England when mincemeat would actually contain meat, unlike today's version found in our beloved modern mince pies.
They are two completely different kinds of pies. Mince pie, also known as mincemeat pie, is made of fruits and contains no meat. It is sweet. A meat pie is savory or spicy and is usually a fried pie, filled with ground meat and onions, spices like cumin, chili peppers, etc.
Mincemeat is a combination of dried chopped fruits, warm spices (like cinnamon and nutmeg), sugar, nuts, distilled spirits — and traditionally, meat. So yes, mutton or beef is an integral element of the most traditional iterations of this English dish.
They were traditionally savoury and did often contain meat in the past, but thankfully, today, that doesn't still happen. It's always worth checking the packaging, but if the pastry doesn't contain dairy then your mince pies should be suitable for vegans.
By the 18th century it was more likely to be tongue or even tripe, and in the 19th century it was minced beef. It was not until the late Victorian period and early 20th Century that mince pies dropped the meat and had all fruit fillings (albeit with suet). Even today there are traditions associated with mince pies.
Some speculation has it that mince pies were illegal to eat on the day of Christmas. However, the only Christmas Day where eating mince pies was illegal was 1644 due to December falling on a day of fasting. Eat all of the mince pies to your heart's desires!
Mincemeat isn't difficult to make, but it has a lot of ingredients, which can make it expensive to produce in small batches, and it requires at least a day's advance planning to let the ingredients sit.
Unfortunately the company who bought it has decided to discontinue! Get it while you can-the cookie recipe is on the box and they're awesome. Sadly you cannot replicate the cookies properly using the jarred minced meat/they do NOT come out well. Pricey but worth it!
A custom from the middle ages says that if you eat a mince pie on every day from Christmas to Twelfth Night (evening of the 5th January) you will have happiness for the next 12 months!
Mincemeat pie is a dish that isn't very common in the American kitchen, which can lead to some confusion for cooks, even those on the Allrecipes staff.
The reason mincemeat is called meat is because that's exactly what it used to be: most often mutton, but also beef, rabbit, pork or game. Mince pies were first served in the early middle ages, and the pies were quite sizeable, filled with a mixture of finely minced meat, chopped up fruit and a preserving liquid.
The Merrell-Soule Company, manufacturer and distributor of canned goods, successfully introduced condensed mincemeat under the None Such® brand name for Borden.
I didn't think mainstream supermarket mince pies had any alcohol in them. My kids scoff loads of them. If there is any evaporated or not it's a no go for a strict Muslim. If you can make them yourself, Robertsons mincemeat is alcohol free (we could buy it in Saudi).
Processed meat is meat that's been cured, salted, smoked, or otherwise preserved in some way (such as bacon, sausages, hot dogs, ham, salami, and pepperoni). However, this doesn't include fresh burgers or mince – putting meat through a mincer doesn't mean it becomes 'processed' unless it is modified further.
Much of the interest in meat pies is about how much meat is in a pie and what kind of meat is used. The Food Standards Code stipulates that a meat pie must contain a minimum of 25 per cent of meat flesh.
Address: 998 Estell Village, Lake Oscarberg, SD 48713-6877
Phone: +21813267449721
Job: Technology Engineer
Hobby: Swimming, Do it yourself, Beekeeping, Lapidary, Cosplaying, Hiking, Graffiti
Introduction: My name is Reed Wilderman, I am a faithful, bright, lucky, adventurous, lively, rich, vast person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/mincemeat-pie-2000-c8b2709f8cf840ae9b344923a489f1d9.jpg "What Is Mincemeat Pie — and Does Mincemeat Pie Have Meat? (1)")
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Screen-Shot-2019-12-13-at-12.14.35-PM-1dfc00d686754247b602130bc6a187ec.png "What Is Mincemeat Pie — and Does Mincemeat Pie Have Meat? (2)")
