To Make Minced Pies

This minced pie recipe comes from the late 17th century, specifically from a manuscript dating between 1675 and 1686. At this time, meat pies—often called 'minced pies'—were festive dishes enjoyed during the winter months and especially at Christmas. The combination of meat, fruit, sugar, and aromatic spices reflected the global trade networks of the period and symbolized an extravagant, celebratory approach to cookery. The recipe demonstrates how sweet and savory flavors were commonly paired in period cookery, and makes use of expensive ingredients like spices, citrus, and imported dried fruits. This was a time of increasing access to such ingredients for the wealthy, and the minced pie was a show of both hospitality and affluence.

In the late 17th century, a housewife would have prepared this pie using a large chopping knife for mincing meat, a wooden chopping board, and perhaps a pestle and mortar for pounding spices. Boiling would be done over an open hearth in a heavy cauldron or pot. Mixing bowls would have been earthenware or wood, and pies were baked in brick ovens or over coals in metal pie dishes. A rolling pin for pastry and simple measuring spoons (if available) or just handfuls and pinches measured by eye would complete her set of tools. No mechanical aids were used; careful hand chopping and blending was the standard.