This is why we eat mince pies at Christmas (2024)

FAQs

This is why we eat mince pies at Christmas? ›

To spread the joy, it was tradition in England that each member of the family gave the mixture a stir, while making a wish. And if you wanted to be ensure good health and happiness in the upcoming year, you should eat one mince pie every day for the Twelve Days of Christmas, from Christmas Eve until the 5th of January.

However, the mince pie was originally a savoury pie – and not even round! In the Tudor period they were rectangular, shaped like a manger and often had a pastry baby Jesus on the lid. They were made from 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and his disciples and were all symbolic to the Christmas story.

A mince pie (also mincemeat pie in North America, and fruit mince pie in Australia and New Zealand) is a sweet pie of English origin filled with mincemeat, being a mixture of fruit, spices and suet. The pies are traditionally served during the Christmas season in much of the English-speaking world.

There is a tradition of eating one mince pie each day over the 12 days of Christmas from Christmas Eve to 5 January.

of Christmas it brings good luck for the year ahead. According to tradition, you must also make a wish. when eating your first mince pie of the season.

It has been claimed that eating the snack is illegal in England if done so on Christmas Day. The tradition comes from the time of Oliver Cromwell in the 1650s, when mince pies were banned at Christmas, along with other tasty treats. Cromwell wanted to tackle gluttony in England.

In the US, there are no laws regulating what foods fictional characters can consume, transport or distribute. Mince pies are not commonly consumed in the US outside of the New England region. Perhaps if more Americans were familiar with them they would be banned. Or perhaps not, who can know.

Going on to how one should formally eat a mince pie, she explains: 'One would pick up the mince pie with a thumb and first finger, and lift [it] away from the plate. 'The mince pie is crumbly, so make sure anything that falls from the mince pie falls onto your plate.

How many mince pies are eaten in the UK? The UK eats approximately 175 million mince pies annually. One million mince pie cases equate to one tonne of aluminium material, meaning the use of 175 tonnes of aluminium for their packaging.

Thankfully Santa starts off his trek with some actual food. Appropriately combining sweet fruits and spices with savory minced meat, mince pies are a hearty British classic that should fill his jolly belly while the snifter of sherry is the reason his nose gets so red.

Why is it called mince 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.

Before the pie was sealed, a top layer consisting of ground pieces of meat from small, stewed birds (species unspecified) and rabbit was added. The pie was then baked. Each pie was large and oblong, enough to feed a family and guests in one sitting. Although the royal cooks used pork, mutton was more normally used.

It is a Christmas Pudding, but instead of adding a lengthy list of spices, fruit, and sugars you are just adding in Mincemeat. Mincemeat, in turn, is actually made up of spices, fruit, and sugars and that is why it is a great 'substitute' in this recipe and a fantastically easy way to make this traditional dessert.

So all traditions come from somewhere, right? And the tradition of leaving mince pies and milk for Santa actually originated in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, December 6th is Festival of St. Nicholas, with children all over the country leaving food offerings for the Saint, in exchange for presents.

Christmas in numbers

Brits eat approximately 175 million mince pies over Christmas, using 175 tonnes of aluminium packaging. The UK uses 227,000 miles of wrapping paper each year.

It was originally known as a Christmas Pye. The oblong or square shape was said to resemble Jesus' cradle. A small doll made from pastry was placed on the top in the centre of the pie where the hollow indentation would be. These were known as Crib Pies.