In spite of its name, contemporary mincemeat, usually made into pies, is just a brandy infused mixture of minced dried fruit and, perhaps, some beef suet (fat) but no meat. It is very popular in Great Britain and is usually served at Christmas time. However, it was originally created as a way to preserve meat. In the Middle ages, meat pies with dried fruit were very popular in England but the lack of refrigeration made them very perishable. Salting and smoking were the only means available to preserve meat in those times but these techniques produced flavors too strong or too salty for meats made into pies. Then, Crusaders,returning from the Holy Land brought certain spices back with them - cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg. It was found that when these spices were added to meat mixtures used as pie fillings (initially, probably added to mask any "off" flavors of not quite fresh meat), they exerted a preservative effect on the meat. Therefore, people began to add them to the meat/fruit fillings for their pies to make their protein supply last longer. Because of the religious connotations of these spices - gifts from the Magi given to baby Jesus - and Britain being a Catholic country at that time, the British Catholic Church hierarchy began to sanction mincemeat pies to be eaten at Christmas time. It became a British Christmas tradition. The Catholic King Henry V was even served mincemeat pies at his Coronation in April 1413. Later, however, the religion of Britain became Protestant and during the very severe Puritan reign of Oliver Cromwell,(1653-1658) attempt's were made to banish Christmas itself as a holiday and certain food traditions that went with it were banned, including preparation of and the eating of mincemeat pie. Eating of mincemeat pies and the monarcy were restored in 1660 when Charles II ascended to the British throne. Later, when English settlers brought their traditional food preferences to the New World, the Puritan idea that anything "gluttonous" and 'wasteful" was irreligious was brought, as well. Therefore, it took some time before the eating of mincemeat pie began to catch on. However, as Puritanism declined, the popularity of mincemeat pie boomed in the American home. With the introduction of more modern methods preserving meat, the addition of fresh meat to pies so it could be eaten quickly before spoiling or to be mixed with spices in the pies to extend its life became irrelevant. Thus, in the 1700's, recipes for mincemeat pies using only fruit and suet but no meat, started to appear. These pies were preserved using only brandy.Today mincemeat pies are available made with the traditional spiced meat, suet and fruits, pies made using only suet and fruit and pies made using only fruit; all with or without brandy added. These pies are now eaten anytime during the year but still are most popular during Christmas.
