Quote:
Originally Posted by stevej37
"Why do they call it mince meat pie?"
The reason mincemeat is called meat is because that's exactly what it used to be: most often mutton, but also beef, rabbit, pork or game. Mince pies were first served in the early middle ages, and the pies were quite sizeable, filled with a mixture of finely minced meat, chopped up fruit and a preserving liquid.
|
My mother used to make miincemeat pies from the meat of a hog's head. She'd buy a hog's head split in half from the butcher, scoop out the brains, cut out the tongue, shout, & lips (she'd make head cheese with those pieces minced up in it & make scrambled eggs & brains for my father). Then she'd boil the head pieces up in a big pot and strip the meat from the skull. That meat is what she'd use to make the pies.