Mince Pies anyone ? 🫓😋

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[size=140]A [b]mince pie[/b] (also [b]mincemeat pie[/b] in New England and [nation]Paperino[/nation], and [b]fruit mince pie[/b] in Australia, New Zealand, and [nation]Eternia Octovia[/nation]) is a sweet pie of English origin, filled with a mixture of dried fruits and spices called [url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mincemeat]"mincemeat"[/url], that is traditionally served during the [region]Christmas[/region] season in [nation]Monson[/nation], [region]Lewisham[/region] and much of 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; these contained the Christian symbolism of representing the gifts delivered to Jesus by the [url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Magi]Biblical Magi[/url]. Mince pies, at Christmastide, were traditionally shaped in an oblong shape, to resemble a manger and were often topped with a depiction of the Christ Child.[/size]

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[size=140]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 [region]Christmas[/region], 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 [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puritans]Puritan[/url] 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 markedly reduced from the large oblong shape once observed. Today the mince pie, usually made without meat (but often including [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suet]suet[/url]  or other animal fats), remains a popular seasonal treat enjoyed by many across [nation]Monson[/nation], [nation]Brocklehurst[/nation], [nation]Ultra Grandia Sebastia[/nation], and [nation]Oldwick[/nation].[/size]

[spoiler="Why 'mince'? Is there meat?" (click here to find out why)][size=130]Pudding predecessors often contained meat, as well as sweet ingredients, and prior to being steamed in a cloth the ingredients may have been stuffed into the gut or stomach of an animal - like the Scottish haggis or sausages.

As techniques for meat preserving improved in the 18th century, the savoury element of both the mince pie and the plum pottage diminished as the sweet content increased. People began adding dried fruit and sugar. The mince pie kept its name, though the pottage was increasingly referred to as plum pudding. As plum pudding, it became widespread as a feast dish, not necessarily associated with Christmas, and usually served with beef. It makes numerous appearances in 18th century satire as a symbol of Britishness, including the Gilray cartoon, [i]The Plumb-pudding in danger[/i][/size][center] [img]https://www.newfoodmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/Mince-pies-HR-re-sized.jpg[/img][/center] [/spoiler]

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[size=140]The ingredients for the modern mince pie can be traced to the return of European [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusades]crusaders[/url] 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, [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suet]suet[/url] and dried fruit. The addition of spices such as cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg was [i]"in token of the offerings of the Eastern Magi."[/i] Several authors viewed the pie as being derived from an old Roman custom practised during [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia]Saturnalia[/url], where Roman fathers in the Vatican were presented with sweetmeats. Early pies were much larger than those consumed today, and oblong shaped[/size]

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[size=140]The Christmas pie has always remained a popular treat at [region]Christmas[/region], although smaller and sweeter, and lacking in post-Reformation England any sign of supposed Catholic idolatry. People began to prepare the fruit and spice filling months before it was required, storing it in jars, and as Britain entered the Victorian age, the addition of meat had, for many, become an afterthought (although the use of [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suet]suet[/url] remains).Its taste then was broadly similar to that experienced today, although some 20th-century writers continued to advocate the inclusion of meat. Although the modern recipe is no longer the same list of 13 ingredients once used (representative of Christ and his 12 Apostles according to author Margaret Baker), the mince pie remains a popular Christmas treat. If that's put you in the mood then please listen to [url=https://youtu.be/859_OsD2Zmg]the Mince Pie Song here!🎶🫓[/url][/size] 

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