FROM THE JOURNAL - COCKTAILS & CURIOSITIES
The Fourth Day of Christmas
Cocktail : Christmas Dream
Recipe: Tiramisu Liqueur shaken up with salted caramel cream and topped with whipped cream and a mini mince pie! Yum!
No doubt you've all got an abundance of mince pies in your cupboards... or your bellies!
Nothing to be embarrassed about either, because I'm about to give you every excuse you need to keep shovelling them into your cakehole over the next few days!
According to tradition, it's good luck. It's said that if you eat a mince pie on each of the Twelve Days of Christmas, you'll enjoy a year of happiness and good fortune. Miss a day, however, and you may be inviting a little bad luck instead!
The tradition of the mince pie dates back to the Middle Ages, when they were very different from the sweet treats we know today. Early recipes combined chopped meat with dried fruits, spices and suet – a sweet-and-savoury combination that was popular at the time. Ingredients such as spices, dried fruit and sugar were expensive imports, so serving richly filled pies was also a sign of wealth and status.
Over the centuries, the pies evolved in both shape and filling. Early versions were often oval or oblong, said to represent the manger in which baby Jesus lay, and some traditions even suggest they were decorated to resemble swaddling clothes. Another long-held belief is that the filling contained 13 ingredients, representing Jesus and his twelve disciples. Whether these traditions were widely followed or grew over time is difficult to know, but they've become part of the folklore surrounding the humble mince pie.
Christmas celebrations took a rather different turn during Oliver Cromwell's rule. In the 1650s, Parliament discouraged Christmas festivities, regarding them as extravagant and too closely linked to Catholic traditions. Feasting, mince pies and plum pudding all fell out of favour for a while, although people were reluctant to give them up. (Despite the name, the so-called Plum Pudding Riots are more legend than established history!)
Thankfully, common sense prevailed. Over time, the meat gradually disappeared from the recipe, leaving behind the delicious little fruit-filled pies we know and love today.
So, whether the good luck is fact or folklore, it really doesn't matter. Christmas simply wouldn't be Christmas without a mince pie... or two... or perhaps one for every day of Christmas!
How do you enjoy yours – hot or cold? With cream, custard or ice cream?