Mincemeat BBF Oct 2019 - use?

[Peridot1]

Would you use or not?

The more north one travels through the British isles, the more the dishes mix I think. Lamb and mint go together so I can see that would make a pie, but not that sweet. In the Lake District we found a shop with lovely gingerbread and also I recall something called Kendal Mince Cake, but that was the vegan version I think. Delicious though.

And yes, mince pies must be like Eccles Cakes. This kind of dried fruit.

Love how this thread about my old unopened jar of mincemeat led to a history and regional food lesson.

The mince should be fine.
I used to be able to buy it (abroad) around Feb time, and it always kept til the following winter, about 6 months past bb date.

Antonov middle of an eccles cake is fairly representative of the middle of a mince pie, but they are spiced differently.

’Kendal Mince Cake’
Mint, not mince. The clue there surely is that there is an overwhelming flavour of mint and a distinct lack of mince?

Mints not mince - yes but when we stand in the middle of Grassmere and the lady said try the cake it sounded like Mince Cake. I just thought it was a vegan version. What is also confusing is peppermints which is an oil and pepper which is a spice - like in meat pies. It's just the food culture and history combined - a lot of history.

Shephard's pie - now don't get me going on that one.

@Antonov shepherd’s pie is made with lamb and cottage pie is made with beef.

I normally buy mincemeat on January when heavily reduced and keep until the following Christmas (or the one after that if there's lots ornive forgotten a jar!). It'll be delicious! Actually I wouldn't add more brandy though, it might be quite strong to start with...

I see but I think I meant chilli 'con carne' actually. When I was in Cumbria, they put chocolate in it and it was a bit weird. An invention I think because chilli comes from Mexico and chocolate from that part of the world also. A British blend perhaps. In centuries past, I do not think they put chocolate in chilli in England so it must be new and nothing to do with Mexico or the New World.

Tudor times - as the other poster raised - they would not have had chocolate in chilli then as it would not have been discovered. Tudor times were Queen Elizabeth and King Henry 8.

Chocolate arrived in Europe during Tudor times - was probably used as a medicine or a spice, as it’s bitter without the addition of sugar.

Just to confuse you about chilli even more, Cincinnati chili is sweet and not at all like a TexMex chilli.

Eccles cakes are made with currants. Mincemeat is usually a mix of dried fruit including currants.

Chilli isn't a British dish though - I don't think it was a Tudor staple. Chocolate is used in moles in central and south American cooking and has been for ages. Cacao has been around for 4000 years - the Olmec, Mayan and Aztec civilisations all consumed it. The sweetened version we recognise only came about in the 16th century when cocoa beans were brought to Europe.

Fruit and spices were mixed with meat in the middle ages in order to mask the flavour of not very fresh meat.

I've got a hankering for an Eccles cake now.

@Peridot1 Your mincemeat will be fine to use, just add some brandy or sherry if it has dried out a little.

@Antonov have you tried Pontefract cakes, or pease pudding (Northumberland) or Staffordshire oatcakes? These are all things you should try!
Peppermint is the name of a variety of the mint plant as is Applemint for example, it doesn't mean that it contains pepper.

I could just eat a mince pie now! Mince pies are usually round shaped now, but in earlier times they were oval shaped to remind us of a baby's cradle, with the sweet mincemeat symbolising the Christchild contained within.

And what about things like Lemon Curd?
An older lady of my acquaintance once had to try to explain what was in prettily packaged jars of that (they were stacked on the counter of a Scottish rural teashop) to a charming but understandably puzzled older lady Japanese tourist who did not have much English. I think sign-language was involved, but I don't know how successfully...

In some places (Lancashire?) lemon curd is called lemon cheese.

Ah but a fruit cheese is generally firmer than a curd, more like a jelly, but not strained to be a clear.

You are right though that cheese is sometimes used in place of curd!

Yes, as I say, in some places lemon curd is called lemon cheese!

I don't like mincemeat but my DGMs used to use it for years. If its not mouldy then it will be fine

Thank you @AdaColeman
Those all sound good and I shall try when I am back up north. The food the further north is more fulfilling I think and well thought out. But it took me a while to try toad-in-the-hole.

The further south, not so good. We were in Cornwall in the summer and in one 'pub' they just threw lots of mackerel heads all over the pie. Like on the way to the waste container, just an afterthought, scatter on top. Not so good I think. Sends the wrong message to tourists.

I can't tell if you are pulling our legs - that's Stargazey pie which is a local delicacy!

Oh, sometimes the best food is local food. But that one can stay local - not good for Uber I think.

Just wait until you try haggis ...

I am sure I will be using even more elderly mincemeat. It will be fine and will anyway be cooked. If it’s mouldy, just scrape it off.

Obviously don't eat it if it's mouldy but also you might want to cook a bit in a pan first to taste it as sometimes the suet can go a bit rancid and get an off taste.