Mince pie

A mince pie is a sweet pie of English origin filled with mincemeat, a mixture of fruits, nuts, spices and either an alcoholic spirit—normally brandy—or vinegar. Also included is a fat, traditionally beef suet, although vegetable alternatives can also be used. The pies are traditionally served during the Christmas season in much of the English-speaking world. Its history is a matter of debate but it dates back to the medieval period, possibly to the eleventh century, when returning European crusaders brought back with them spices.

Historically, a mince pie was made with meat before changing to the current vegetarian form. The meat used in recipes varied, but included neat's tongue (cattle), beef, mutton, tripe and could also include fish. As the ingredients were expensive, the pies were only eaten on feast days; this then changed to their becoming associated with Christmas, when they are mostly consumed.

The mince pie was attacked by the puritans during the Interregnum (1649 to 1660), although it was stigmatised for its indulgent and supposed catholic connotations. From the seventeenth century onwards the mince pie moved towards being a small, individual size, rather than for sharing among several people. From the eighteenth century onwards the influx of cheap sugar from the British plantations of the West Indies led to the mince pie becoming more sweet than savoury. The following century recipes increasingly stopped including meat, although there are still some meat recipes being published in the twenty-first century.

Much folklore has developed around the mince pie, including that the spices used in the pie represent the gifts given to Jesus by the Magi and that the Elizabethans would shape a mince pie to represent Jesus's crib, complete with a pastry model of Jesus on top. Food historians state that there is little evidence to support either of these pieces of folklore.