Here’s How Mincemeat Pies Can Cause A Crisis Of (Food) Faith

Christmas is for the most part a happy day. It’s a day when Christians give thanks for the birth of Jesus Christ and when both Christians and non-Christians alike use the day to enjoy some family time and amazing (amazing) food.

Holiday Bloopers

However, there are inevitably some holiday bloopers. Perhaps your great great aunt arrived at the door wearing the same sweater as you. Perhaps your brother gave you a Nintendo as a gift and then appropriated it for himself. Or, perhaps you didn’t quite get the food you were expecting – which would be the biggest tragedy of all for us foodies. This poor soul, for instance tasted a mincemeat pie for the first time only to discover that there’s no meat in it…

From the comments below, it seems like a lot of people emphasise with her:

Even Rachel from F.R.I.E.N.D.S had a bit of a blooper moment when she uses the mincemeat pie as an example of strange British food habits (and to justify why ladyfingers would belong in a trifle).

The Mincemeat Pie

Considering the name, it’s not surprising that a lot of people would be fooled into thinking the pie contains meat. After all, mincemeat generally refers to minced beef or chicken or pork, right?

In its defence, the mincemeat pie way back in the days of Yore did contain meat. Traditionally, the pie was filled with minced fruits, spices, minced meat and suet. However, over the years, the focus shifted from the meat to the fruits and spices. Eventually, meat became practically an obsolete ingredient in the mincemeat pies – a great source of sorrow today for many carnivorous foodies.

We can propose two solutions to avoid such disappointments; one – have pies that contain actual meat along with your fruit mincemeat pies at a Christmas feast. Or, simply rename the mincemeat pie to something less misleading; how does fruit-meat pie sound? Or minced fruit pie? What do you think?