What Was The Original Mincemeat Pie Made Of?

Mincemeat pies are big in Britain. They are practically a requirement on any holiday table and have been for centuries. Many Americans have at least heard of them, particularly if they are Harry Potter fans (like I proudly am), as the dessert is mentioned throughout the books, not to mention in the films and even the video games. The curiously named pie doesn't give a whole lot of clues as to what's inside the modern day version, which is chock-full of fruit, but it certainly describes the earliest pies, which date back to the 14th century. Yes, original mincemeat pies were made with meat.

In an English cookbook dating back to 1390, there is a recipe called "tartes of flesh," (how's that for subtle?) which describes a pie made with ground pork, hard-cooked eggs, cheese, spices, and sugar. Many agree that this describes an early form of a mincemeat pie. Another comes from a 1615 publishing of "The English Huswife" by Gervase Marham; this pie consists of mutton, suet (a kind of hard, crumbly animal fat), warm spices, orange zest, and several dried fruits. Up until the 18th century, recipes for mincemeat pies consistently featured meat, fruit, and spices to create a kind of savory, yet sweet dish, which isn't all that unusual when you consider things like Cuban picadillo which is made with raisins, North African tagines, and Greek keftedes.

Several different types of meats have been used to make mincemeat pies, and as time progressed and sugar became more affordable, they also became sweeter. Today, meat has all but been eliminated in these British provincial treats, but they are no less beloved.

Sometime before the mid-18th century, cooks were beginning to create their mincemeat pies sans meat. In a 1747 cookbook called "Art of Cookery," author Hannah Glasse instructed her readers how to make her version of the pie, which included currants, raisins, apples, sugar, suet, citrus zest, and red wine. Her instructions also denote the type of meat to use, only if the reader chooses to include meat, suggesting it was purely optional. By the Victorian era, mincemeat pies were essentially meatless, with plenty of sugar, fruit, and liquor to make up for it. Queen Victoria herself was a great lover of sweet dishes; in fact, cherries jubilee was created in her honor.

You certainly can find modern day recipes that make mincemeat pies akin to the ones enjoyed in the medieval era, but more often than not, the ones you buy and are served are bite-sized sweets that are full of raisins, figs, apricots, dates, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and some type of alcohol, from wine to brandy. In a way, they're similar in flavor to American fruit cakes, which happen to be holiday traditions as well.