In this post I would like to tell you about mince pies. In the United Kingdom you would find these tasty treats in all supermarkets and bakeries. The students at the school I work with had never heard of them before so I decided to learn a bit more about them and bake them for my students and friends here in northern Germany.
"Mince" refers to the minced fruit that is in the filling of the pie. This filling is made up of lots of different dried fruits like raisins, currants and berries, and also nuts, suet (fat), spices and lots and lots of sugar! It's very tasty and very sweet! "Pie" refers to the outside layer which is made of pastry. The pastry is usually very crumbly and it can be messy when you eat it.
Traditionally, the pies were made with meat and fruit inside! I didn't know this until I read about it on the internet. What do you think? Would you eat it? The recipe for mince pies date back to hundreds of years ago and originally had thirteen ingredients to represent the twelve apostles and Christ. I don't know if this is still the case but my family have always used a recipe with thirteen ingredients. Mince pies are extremely popular in England and whenever I have visited a friends house or relatives they always have them and offer them to guests. The bakery company Greggs apparently sold 7.5 million mince pies in 2011 over the Christmas period! That's a lot of mince pies!
Do you think you would like to try a mince pie? Have you had the chance to try one before? What are traditional things that you eat during the Christmas period?
