Gillman Posted October 24, 2007 Share Posted October 24, 2007 This is from Elizabeth David's (1970) book Spices, Salts And Aromatics In The English Kitchen which I've referred to before:"Christmas mincemeat and Christmas plum pudding and cake are all such typical examples of the English fondness for spiced fruit mixtures that it seems almost unnecessary to include recipes for them in this little book. It so happens though that I have been asked many times for a good mincemeat recipe, so perhaps an interesting one is not all that common. This is the one I use.The friend who passed it on to me was insistent that bought shredded suet should not be used. It would prevent the mincemeat from keeping, so she told me. I am afraid that I disobeyed her instructions and used bought packet suet. (Shredding suet is a terrible task, I cannot make myself spend so much time and effort on it.)The first batch of mincemeat I made using ready-prepared suet kept for five years. The last jar was ["was" is in italics] a bit dried out. I added more brandy and it came back to life.The ingredienets are: 1 1/2 lb. sharp apples; 3/4 lb. stoneless raisins; 3/4 lb. currants; 1/4 lb. mixed peel; 3/4 lb. suet; 3/4 lb. sultanas; 2 oz. skinned and coarsely chopped almonds; 1/2 teaspoon each of grated nutmeg, cinnamon, mace; 3/4 lb. sugar; rind and juice of one lemon and one orange; 1/2 gill (2 1/2 oz.) of brandy or rum [substitute with you know what].Wash and dry all fruit. Chop the peeled and carefully cored apples. Mix all ingredients well together, adding brandy last.Fill stoneware jars and tie them down with thick grease-proof paper, or alternatively pack the mincemeat into glass preserving-jars with screw or clip-on tops.This amount makes approximately 6 lb. of mincemeat".Who will make this for us to be served at Sampler Next? If anyone offers, I'll bring an extra special bourbon to sample it with.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigthom Posted October 24, 2007 Share Posted October 24, 2007 I'm confused by the inclusion of both raisins and sultanas. I thought "sultana" was what they called raisins, sort of like "boot" and "bonnet" and "lift" and "courgette" and "fanny". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted October 24, 2007 Author Share Posted October 24, 2007 I wondered about that too but I think sultanas are a larger, fleshier type. I checked the recipe again and she calls for both.Gray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted October 24, 2007 Author Share Posted October 24, 2007 If I have no volunteers I just may take this on myself however cookery has never been a strong point. Still, this recipe seems more assembly than cooking...Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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