What is mincemeat pie?

A mince pie is a fruit-based mincemeat sweet pie of British origin that is traditionally served during the Christmas season in the English-speaking world. Its ingredients are traceable to the 13th century, when returning European crusaders brought with them Middle Eastern recipes containing meats, fruits and spices.


Pie Filling Ingredients


1 1/2 cups diced cooked beef 
4 cups chopped apples 
1 1/2 cups raisins 
1/4 cup sweet pickle juice 
1/4 cup pineapple juice 
1 large orange, peeled, sectioned, and cut into bite-size 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
1 1/2 cups white sugar 
1/2 cup sorghum 
1 cup beef broth

Combine the cooked beef, apples, raisins, sweet pickle vinegar, pineapple, orange, salt, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, sorghum and 1 cup beef broth. Store in the refrigerator or freeze until ready to use.

A mince pie is a fruit-based mincemeat sweet pie of British origin that is traditionally served during the Christmas season in the English-speaking world. Its ingredients are traceable to the 13th century, when returning European crusaders brought with them Middle Eastern recipes containing meats, fruits and spices.

The early mince pie was known by several names, including mutton pie, shrid pie and Christmas pie. Typically its ingredients were a mixture of minced meat, suet, a range of fruits, and spices such as cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Served around Christmas, the savoury Christmas pie (as it became known) was associated with supposed Catholic "idolatry" and during the English Civil War was frowned on by the Puritan authorities. Nevertheless, the tradition of eating Christmas pie in December continued through to the Victorian era, although by then its recipe had become sweeter and its size reduced markedly from the large oblong shape once observed. Today the mince pie remains a popular seasonal treat enjoyed by many across the United Kingdom.

The ingredients for the modern mince pie can be traced to the return of European crusaders from the Holy Land. Middle Eastern methods of cooking, which sometimes combined meats, fruits and spices, were popular at the time. Pies were created from such mixtures of sweet and savoury foods; in Tudor England, shrid pies (as they were known then) were formed from shredded meat, suet and dried fruit. The addition of spices such as cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg was, according to the English antiquary John Timbs, "in token of the offerings of the Eastern Magi."^[1][2] Several authors, including Timbs, viewed the pie as being derived from an old Roman custom practised during Saturnalia, where Roman fathers in the Vatican were presented with sweetmeats.^[1] Early pies were much larger than those consumed today,^[2] and oblong shaped; the jurist John Selden presumed that "the coffin of our Christmas-Pies, in shape long, is in Imitation of the Cratch [Jesus's crib]",^[3] although writer T. F. Thistleton-Dyer thought Selden's explanation unlikely, as "in old English cookery books the crust of a pie is generally called 'the coffin.'

Mincemeat pie was brought to New England by English settlers in the 17th century.[21] While it was originally a Christmas pie, as in Britain, the Puritans did not celebrate Christmas, causing the pie's associations in the region to shift toward the American holiday of Thanksgiving. The ingredients for New England mincemeat pie are similar to the British one, with a mixture of apples, raisins, spices, and minced beef serving as the filling.[21] Later recipes sometimes omit the beef, though "None Such" (now owned by The J.M. Smucker Company), the major brand of condensed American mincemeat, still contains beef. New England mincemeat pies are usually full-sized pies, as opposed to the individual-sized pies now common in Britain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mince_pie