A very British Christmas tradition
For those of you who don’t know what mince pies are, they are quite remarkable little pastries.
Firstly because they ONLY come out at Christmas time (well, I am sure someone has seen them at other times of the year but mostly they are a seasonal delight), secondly because they have an interesting history and thirdly because you either love them or hate them – at least from my experience.
Children tend to fall into the latter group and, when you see the list of ingredients, you can understand why: the shortcrust pastry that they are encased in is filled with something called mincemeat. However, a mince pie is a sweet pie and there is no meat whatsoever in it. The “mincemeat” is actually a mixture of dried fruits (raisins and currants) and spices and some can be brandy, rum or sherry.
For any food historians reading this, the original mincemeat pie came from medieval England and originally contained beef or venison together with the fruits and spices. The meat was replaced at some point with suet, a type of animal fat which gives it its buttery, creamy flavour and today a mince pie is most definitely a dessert, often served together with a cup of tea as a mid-morning or afternoon treat, after the Christmas dinner or as an evening snack. Basically – any time you fancy! It’s Christmas and you probably won’t see them on the supermarket shelves until next year.
Warm or cold? In my family we used to eat them cold but a lot of people (me included nowadays) tend to warm them up and serve with cream or even a knob of brandy butter, brandy cream or custard.
Some traditions and superstitions that I know about:
- You are supposed to make your own mincemeat
- Everyone in the house should stir the mixture clockwise for good luck
- You are meant to eat one pie every day over the 12 Days of Christmas for good luck in thecoming year (this is not a difficult thing for me to do)
- You should make a wish when you eat your first mince pie of the season
- Children leave out a mince pie and a glass of sherry or brandy for Santa Claus before they go to bed on Christmas EveOf course as happens, food companies tweak and change the recipe and nowadays, apart fromthe traditional pastry you can find frangipane topped mince pies (a layer of almond under the lidof the pie), crumble topping instead of the traditional pastry lid, lattice designs, all-butter pastryinstead of shortcrust, flavoured pastries (orange zest, cinnamon, ginger) and, of course,gluten-free and vegan ones.
Mince pies are not for everyone’s palates but I have just had a friend visiting me from the UK and one of the things I asked her to bring over for me was a box of them. She actually brought me two boxes – I generously shared one box with some German friends who thankfully loved them so I didn’t regret sharing them. However, one box of 6 remained exclusively for my consumption and a week later I can honestly now say that I am mince pied-out – at least for another year.
What are your traditional pastries at Christmas time? Let’s hear about them in the Comments section please.
Very nice description of a special English tradition!
Thanks Barry. More to come along these lines in future posts.
I prefer the individual slices of Christmas cake but if the mince pie is shallow, not deep and made at Morrisons bakery, I find them hard to resist!
Good thing they are only out at Christmas – unless someone else knows differently?
I blooming love mince pies.
Always seem high in calories though, as they make me put weight on.
… Or is it because I eat a whole box at a time?
I do not even want to think about the calories! But they come out at Christmas time and I tend to allow myself to eat practically everything then.
I am afraid of trying that one pie a day for 12 days, good luck with more workouts to do doesn’t sound so appealing 😛
Mince pies are (in my opinion) a love or hate thing – a bit like Marmite. I used to hate mince pies in the past but somehow my tastes have changed.
I like a mince pie especially if it’s topped with cream but I always look forward to costa bringing out their festive hot chocolate – they go very well together
Oh yes, mince pies and hot chocolate – a divine pairing.
Christmas cake and Christmas pudding are my favourites!
Oh yes – I’ll put them on my list to write about next Christmas.
The original recipe with minced meat sounds like a delicious snack. Too bad that it’s only available in certain places and at certain times.
Not too bad for the hips, though!
In France we have La Bûche de Noël -or Christmas Log Cake- typically made from a rolled sponge cake filled with cream and covered in chocolate to mimic the appearance of bark, hence the name.
Oh yes, I have seen that. I wonder where the idea came from…
Cakes and pastries – very delicious any time.
Timeless classics…
I like that word, timeless – especially in this fast-paced world of ours.