Comments on: Mince Pies at Thanksgiving

By: Bucky

Bucky — Sat, 27 Nov 2004 04:43:01 +0000

Kieran- Inasmuch as the quoted phrase is in what I believe is called passive future tense it’s magnanimously inclusive – me, you, Cousin Bob, Niece Patty, Father Gillespie…all would be fortified thereby, and enabled to withstand hibernian discomfort more readily. Inasmuch as the heart of the comment, itself, was a complaint that I have, myself, outlasted suet as an essential ingredient in the compote under discussion, we’ll have to invert your pithy supposition, more’s the pity. What suet there is within my compass appears to be still insulating bovine kidneys, or, when it is available as victual, rendered anonymously into wieners.

By: harry

harry — Thu, 25 Nov 2004 15:34:41 +0000

I left out the apples because although they are in all US recipes, they’re in no English recipes, and I always feel they detract from the intensity of the experience. I left out the suet—which, I agree, is normally essential, and the absence of which from commerical mincemeat in the US is one of many faults—because the analytical marxist is forbidden to eat any fat other than wlnut and olive oil. I would re-include the suet in the other pie, as the one exception fto my vegetariansim, but I can’t find good suet easily int he local stores, and figured I’ll just try with butter instead.

By: Matt McGrattan

Matt McGrattan — Thu, 25 Nov 2004 10:34:29 +0000

"What a nonsensical assertion- that because one has found a recipe for mincemeat sans meat, that therefore to have the meat therein is an aberation!" Heh, yes, fair point. What i was trying to say was that the existence of old recipes sans meat suggests that mince pies don't have to contain meat. But I can see how it looks like I was saying they shouldn't contain meat. I would go as far as to claim that they usually don't contain meat :-) - some kind of statistical rather than normative claim. For pie-related debates we really need Fafnir...

By: Kieran Healy

Kieran Healy — Thu, 25 Nov 2004 06:03:42 +0000

With suet it is a fortifying assertion that winter can be outlasted. You can, or the suet? I’d say the odds are on the suet to outlast pretty much anything.

By: Bucky

Bucky — Thu, 25 Nov 2004 05:58:36 +0000

Suet is key, and sadly missing now from the rare anyway jars of canned mince(d)-meat that show up on the west coast of the US beginning now. Without suet it is a candied stew of fruit bits, mostly raisins, in a mildly brandy-flavored granular syrup. With suet it is a fortifying assertion that winter can be outlasted.

By: SqueakyRat

SqueakyRat — Thu, 25 Nov 2004 04:05:44 +0000

My mother used to make mincemeat with suet (which I guess is the fat surrounding beef kidneys). Not one of the major ingredients, you understand, but definitely there.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 25 Nov 2004 02:47:18 +0000

How can you hate pumpkin pie? That stuff rules. Maybe you’ve had bad grocery store pumpkin pie inflicted on you. But the homemade stuff is great – especially if you substitute brown sugar for the white and bump up the spices a bit so it doesn’t just taste like pureed pumpkin. (Which isn’t much to write home about all on its own, I’ll grant you). I just made two of those and two pecan pies, my second favorite. Although pecan pie is more like a candy in a pie crust than a pie. Your mince pie sounds like a boozy raisin pie, which I’ve never had but am told was one of my grandfather’s favorites.

By: eszter

eszter — Thu, 25 Nov 2004 01:03:19 +0000

I never did like pumpkin pie, but usually had a tiny slice just to be polite. However, this all changed a couple of years ago when I discovered this recipe. I'm going to make it tomorrow again. The big difference is that it uses a ton of vanilla ice cream (which I don't even like on its own, but makes this pie very yummy). The one downside is that it makes two pies, which is a bit much (especially since I will also be making a pecan pie, the peanut butter bars are about to come out of the oven, and a guest is bringing an apple tart).. but I'm not actually complaining.;-)

By: Barry R

Barry R — Thu, 25 Nov 2004 01:01:18 +0000

What a nonsensical assertion- that because one has found a recipe for mincemeat sans meat, that therefore to have the meat therein is an aberation! Zut alor! The wonderful Lobscouse & Spotted Dog cookbook based on the Aubrey/Maturin novels suggests that the origin of mincemeat may well go back to the Romans. I think, although only from an untrustworthy memory, that the earlier editions of the Joy of Cooking had a meated recipe for mincemeat. I suspect that the more recent fruit only version is a variant on an English chutney. Pumpkin pie, especially from fresh squashes can be a marvelous dish. I note the irony in one who apparently likes fruitcake, heaping abuse on another poor dish. Cheers for the holidays!

By: Kirk Spencer

Kirk Spencer — Thu, 25 Nov 2004 00:00:16 +0000

re Mincemeat containing meat – not always, but not never either. From the Oxford Universal Dictionary (and absent criticals and italics): “Mincemeat. 1663. [Altered from MINCED MEAT.] I. a. = minced meat ~~1747 b. A mixture of currants, raisins, sugar, suet, etc., and sometimes meat, chopped small; used in mince~~pies 1845.”

By: Vaughn Hopkins

Vaughn Hopkins — Wed, 24 Nov 2004 23:34:31 +0000

Matt, mince meat pies have to contain minced pork because my Daddy said so, and my Daddy was always right. duh!! The best ones, the ones my great aunt baked were so full of pork fat that when cold they looked almost like lard. So, lets get with the program. I agree about the popcorn, incidentally.

By: Andrew McManama

Andrew McManama — Wed, 24 Nov 2004 22:14:39 +0000

It’s not true that all pumpkin pies taste about same. I’ve had pumpkin pie maybe four times since I’ve come to the states. Three times were about as you described, but the fourth was baked by a pastry chef and was absolutely fanastic. Anyway, Martin, the best popcorn is about as good as the worst, and most people like popcorn!

By: Matt McGrattan

Matt McGrattan — Wed, 24 Nov 2004 22:14:31 +0000

Vaughn: What makes it the 'rule'? It's one thing to say that people in the Ozarks add pork and that mince pies can contain pork and an entirely different thing to say that that's the rule and they ought to contain pork. As I've already pointed out, traditional English recipes for mince pies going back hundreds and hundreds of years don't contain pork. Or is the traditional recipe you know from the Ozarks the one true recipe and all the rest somehow wrong? You may be able to speak with authority about mince-pie-making in the Ozarks :-) but how is that supposed to have some kind of claim over how the rest of us do it?

By: Vaughn Hopkins

Vaughn Hopkins — Wed, 24 Nov 2004 21:42:00 +0000

Harry, No, you have to add the pork! Sorry, that’s the rule. I grew up in the Ozarks, and I can say with authority that in that neck of the woods, mince meant minced meat, mixed with the raisins, apples, lots spices, etc. that you have in your otherwise excellent recipe. And, to continue to be contrarian, I like pumpkin pie! Including pumpkin chiffon pie.

By: Matt McGrattan

Matt McGrattan — Wed, 24 Nov 2004 21:23:55 +0000

Vince: Mince pies very much do not contain meat. [I assumed you were joking… but others seem to have taken it seriously :-) ] Anyway, I have a recipe here from 1760 for mincemeat pie and it contains only dried fruit and alcohol. [I think you are confusing the verb ‘mince’ with the noun ‘mince’] I’ts pretty similar to Henry’s actually. raisins, sultanas, chunky marmalade, lemon, candied peel, mixed spice, currants, sugar, cooking apples, brandy, nutmeg and ginger. [The recipe is in ‘The Cookery of England’ – Elisabeth Ayrton. Which is an anthology of traditional English recipes dating right back to the middle ages and with loads of Tudor, Jacobean, Georgian and Victorian classics… Fantastic book. The New York Review of Books mentions it in their gastro-porn round-up here: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/8309