Christmas CookiesChristmas Cookies - Well Almost - Mince PiesChristmas mince pies became popular in the Victorian age. Their history is longer than that though. In the 12th century knights returning from Crusades in the Holy Land introduced to Europe many Middle Eastern ways of cooking. Some of these dishes mixed sweet tastes with savoury and recipes of minced meat cooked with fruit and sweet spices were popular. People used sugars and spices to preserve meat in these times because they did not have access to preservatives or refrigeration. Fresh and dried fruit was less expensive and easier to obtain than sugar or honey so people used these to help preserve their meats. In medieval times some people had a blunt sense of humour and referred to the mince pies as 'coffins'.
In Elizabethan times mince pies were still a mixture of meat and fruit. They were called shrid pies because they contained shredded meat and suet (hard fat found in kidneys of cows or sheep). The meat and suet were mixed with dried fruit like raisins and currants. The tradition was to add three spices, - cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg - these stood for the three gifts given to Jesus by the Wise men. The mixture was then baked in a pastry case, not a round one like the mince pies of today, but oblong to represent Jesus' crib. To complete the pie, a little pastry baby often decorated the lid.
The Puritans showed an opposition to the mincemeat pie. Some say they felt the manger-shaped pies scandalised the sense of religious decorum. Others say they looked at the eating of mince pies as gluttony which did not fit the season of the Nativity.
Over the years less meat and more fruit and sugar were included in the Christmas mincemeat pies. More common pie recipes omit meat and add additional fruits including a larger range of fruit. Mincemeat is best made some time in advance to allow the flavours to blend and mature. It was once thought lucky to eat a mince pie on each of the twelve days of Christmas. Each pie would be eaten in a different house in order to bring good luck to the household and the eater for the next twelve months.
