I delayed my Dinner at 1800 this month so that I could make a Victorian Christmas meal! And then I read a few Christmas menus and decided that I would do just one recipe. Seriously, people. Would you like to know at least one source for what a 19th century Christmas dinner would be??
“To Arrange a Christmas Dinner. Place a high pyramid of evergreens (made as before directed) in the centre of the table. Let a roasted turkey of uncommon size occupy the middle or centre of one side of the table, on one end let there be a cold boiled ham, and at the other, fricasseed chicken or a roast pig; with the turkey serve mashed potatoes and turnips, boiled onions and dressed celery, or other salad with apple sauce–near the ham place fried or mashed potatoes and pickles or mangoes: and with the pig or fricassee, the same as with the turkey; large pitchers of sweet cider (or where that is not desired, ice water) should be placed diagonally opposite each other, on two corners of the table; boiled turkey with oyster sauce may occupy the place of the fricassee, or instead, a fine oyster pie. For dessert, there should be only two very large and ornamental mince pies, one sufficiently large that each of the company may be helped from it, in token of common interest, is desirable. Ice creams and jellies and jams and ripe fruits and nuts, with sweet cider and syrup water of different sorts, or wines, complete the dessert. Biscuit and jelly sandwich may be served at dessert, or paste puffs and charlotte de russe or blancmange with strands of jelly.”
—American System of Cookery, Mrs. T. J. Crowen [T.J. Crowen:New York] 1847 (p. 404-5)
Yeah, so I went with Mince Meat Pie, thinking it would be easier…and I suppose it was easier than a full dinner. But I would like you to know that I still spent hours–hours–figuring this thing out! Because, despite the fact that Mince meat pies are on virtually every 19th century Christmas menu, I would like you to know that the US apparently doesn’t believe in like half the ingredients any more. Anyway. Read on and don’t forget to check out the accompanying Instagram reel.
Oh, one more note – this recipe called for four pounds – FOUR POUNDS – of meat, if that gives you any idea how much this made. So I cut in half. I’ll tell you now, I should have cut it in quarters. Possibly eighths. Exactly how many Mincemeat pies did one typically make for Christmas??
Mincemeat (or Mince Meat. Or just Mince) Pie
The Boston cooking-school cook book
1896
Step One: Cover meat and suet with boiling water and cook until tender, then cool. I underthought this majorly when planning. First of all, do you have any idea how hard it is to obtain beef suet these days?? After multiple online searches, Wegmans’ website claimed they had it and after wandering around for a good 10 minutes, I finally asked. Three employees looked at the picture on the website and finally declared they must not carry it any more. Which means I spent an inordinate amount of money to get it here from Amazon in time to make it for Christmas because my planning was non-existent. I also didn’t register the whole “boil until tender” until I was pouring the water over the meat and suet, which means a delay of like two hours as I waited for it to get tender…and then several more as I waited for it to cool enough for the fat to rise. But don’t worry – there was plenty to do while I waited.
Step Two: Chop meat and add to twice the amount of finely chopped apples. Sound simply enough? Well, answer me this – twice the amount? Twice the amount of the original meat, or twice the amount after it is chopped? And does it mean in pounds or cups? I decided on the twice after chopped, in cups, since there were measurements for everything except the apples, which, by the way, called for Baldwin apples. What are those, you ask? It’s apparently a popular historic variety from New England that I certainly can’t obtain. Nor could I obtain most of AI’s recommended replacements. I finally, after perusing the produce section for far too long, decided on Granny Smith apples.
Step Three: Add quinces finely chopped. Hold it right there – quinces? I had never heard of such thing. Have you? Thank goodness for google, which informed me it was a fruit similar, but different, to apples and pears. I would like you to know that, once again, quinces are not necessarily easy to obtain. It required a trip to Whole Foods, which thankfully had them (though I had to look it up to see how to tell when they are ripe).
Step Four: Add sugar, molasses, cider, raisins, currants, and citron (also finely cut). And what, you may ask, is citron? I asked the same. At first, I assumed it meant citrus, but out of an abundance of caution, I looked it up, and apparently, IT’S ANOTHER FRUIT! Have you ever heard of it? I hadn’t. And apparently basically no one else did either because I couldn’t find it ANYWHERE. Finally, I found a container of candied citron at Wegmans and because, while looking at numerous mince pie recipes, I had seen one of them say to candy the citron, I decided it was close enough and went for it.
Step Five: Add suet and broth in which the meat and suet were cooked…this was easier said than done, since I technically didn’t let it sit long enough in the cold to be totally separated, and also, I don’t think there was quite as much as the recipe seemed to think there would be…but it was hard to tell, so I just added it as best I could and crossed my fingers.
Step Six: Heat, stirring occasionally, for two hours. TWO HOURS. I definitely should have started this earlier in the day. It wasn’t done until almost 11:00 PM. I really didn’t plan for this well.
Step Seven: Add brandy and spices. AT LAST – something easy. Except the spices included cinnamon, mace, clove, nutmegs, salt, and pepper…did you catch the mace in there? There is mace that you DON’T spray in someone’s face? Thank goodness for Wegmans, which had that as well, though I stood in front of the spices for a good five minutes before I finally spotted it. And I don’t mind telling you it was pretty pricey for something I’ve only ever seen in a recipe once.
Step Eight: There is no step eight. Which is the point at which I realized it gave absolutely no instruction as to how to BAKE the pie, other than a note at the beginning saying puff paste is usually used. Should I cook it more or less since it cooked for two hours prior to baking? Should I bake the pastry and then put in the mincemeat? But then how would the top bake? Would too high a temperature burn it? I admit I cheated a little. I looked at Things A Lady Would Like To Know from 1875, which said to cook mince pie for half an hour. Of course it gave no temperature, but I can only ask for so much. Also, for the record, Phyllo dough is NOT puff pastry. That’s what I get for trying to cheat and buying puff pastry…er, phyllo dough. Cue making homemade puff pastry at 11:00 PM.
Verdict:
We…still aren’t sure. Daniel didn’t think it was awful, but after a couple more bites, said it grew on him. I tried one bite and that was enough. Which is a shame because I have a TON of mincemeat left…but honestly? I think I’ll try it again warmed up because there is a part of me that really wants to like it.
Do you like Mince Pies? How about mincemeat? Suggestions for how to use the rest?
Forest Idylls 