Historically, mincemeat was a way of preserving meat, mostly mutton, using sugar and alcohol without smoke or salt. In the 11th century, members of the Crusades returning from the Holy Land brought back oriental spices. Old documents tell us that cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and mace were added to late Medieval and Renaissance meat dishes, which may have been the forerunner of sweet mincemeat as we know it today.
Three of them: cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg were added to food to commemorate the gifts of the Magi. Mince pie, made with meat and spices, was prepared in a manger-shaped casing with an indentation for an edible baby Jesus to be placed on top. It was considered lucky to eat one of these pies on each of the 12 days of Christmas, ending with the Epiphany on January 6th.
In the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, mincemeat was a mixture of fruit mostly prunes, raisins, dates and finely diced meat, along with wines or vinegars. But by the 18th century, wine and vinegar were replaced by brandy or other distilled spirits. In the mid- to late 18th century, sources say mincemeat was connected with a more rural palate, which the Victorians turned it into a refined Christmas tradition.
From the mid-20th century meat was predominantly gone from the recipe. Today the commonly found ingredients include dried fruit, chopped apples, citrus peel, currants, citron, candied fruits, brandy, rum or another liqueur. The suet, which used to be from kidney fat, is made from vegetarian sources now.
Readily available all year round to purchase, there are numerous recipes for this sweet treat if you want to make your own, see below for one example -
Ingredients
225g/8oz vegetarian suet
225g/8oz Bramley apples, peeled, cored and chopped
125g/4oz candied peel, chopped
225g/8oz sultanas
225g/8oz raisins
225g/8oz currants
175g/6oz demerara sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
1 orange, zest and juice
60ml/2fl oz brandy
Method
Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel and allow to stand overnight for the fruit to absorb the juice and brandy. You can use the mincemeat the following day, or store in jars for later.
To sterilise the jars, preheat the oven to 110C/100C Fan/Gas ¼. Wash the jars in hot, soapy water, rinse thoroughly, then put them on a baking tray (rim side up) in the oven for 30 minutes. To sterilise the lids, put them in a small saucepan of boiling water and boil for 10 minutes.
Pack the mincemeat into sterilised jars, pressing down to try to remove any air bubbles. Seal the lids. Store in a cool dark place until you want to use it. It will taste even better after two weeks or so. The mincemeat will keep for up to three months.
Magical properties –
Love, Goddess connection, vitality, abundant, prosperity, happiness, conviviality, healing, fertility, divination, psychic enhancement, cleansing, protection, purification, transformation, renewal.
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Sources and further reading –
A Kitchen Witch’s World of Magical Food by Rachel Patterson
Image from Unsplash
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