One of London’s oldest butchers has put the meat back into mince pies in a return to tradition.
The ‘medieval’ style mince pie, from C.Lidgate, can be delivered to your home in the borough of Barnet through AmazonFresh.
A festive favourite tracing back to medieval times, mince pies were originally packed full of meat, including boiled beef and tongue, before evolving into the modern spiced fruit mince pies we’re familiar with today.
It is not only the pie mixture which has changed over the centuries, but also the shape. Initially intended to feed a number of guests, these traditional mince pies were much larger and rectangular in shape.
Ahead of the festive season, Danny Lidgate, a fifth-generation family butcher at C.Lidgate in Holland Park, has combined traditional recipes with ingredients more appealing to 21st century taste buds.
Danny has even made the recipe available for you to try at home…
Medieval Mince Pie recipe, serves 4-6 people
The ingredients, inspired by those used by centuries-old traditional butchers and chefs are below:
450g Cooked Beef, Minced
450g Suet
600g Currants
600g Raisins
300g Candied Peel
900g Apricots, Minced
450g Dried Apple
4 Lemons, Zested
1kg Sugar
600ml Sherry
1tbl Spoon Ground Ginger
1tbl Spoon Ground Nutmeg
Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 220C/425F/G7
2. Mix the minced meat with all the other filling ingredients
3. Mould ¾ pastry into a 20cm spring form tin to make the base and sides
4. Fill the tin with filling
5. Roll out the remaining pastry for the lid, moisten the sides with water and press the lid firmly in place and crimp to make a tight seal.
6. Trim the edges and use the surplus to decorate the top. Cut a hole in the middle of the lid.
7. Bake in the centre of the oven for 15 minutes, and then reduce the temperature to 180C/350F/G4 for a further 75 minutes
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