Mince-pies for Christmas

...and the knotty question of meat or no-met

A double-crust pie or fist-sized tart stuffed with dried fruits and nuts soaked in brandy (previously known as shred-pie for reasons of knife-work), is first mentioned as festive food by Thomas Tusser in 1557. At the time, the pie was large and oval rather than small and round. Baked in the shape of a crib topped out with a pastry Baby, the pie was consumed in much the same spirit as the anthropomorphic breads popular at festivals throughout Roman Catholic Europe - something of a pagan throw-back.