Mince Pies

This is a ridiculous thread. It beats even my cricket ramblings in terms of pointlessness. But I feel compelled to ask:Do Americans eat mince pies at Christmas? Do you guys even know what the frig I am talking about here?My Argie wife is bewildered by this whole "disgusting habit" and my Aussie and Saffer work colleagues are convinced that the only reason Brits eat them at Christmas is because we are all to permanently pissed during the festive season to actually taste them.But I love them.I am eating the last of my Christmas supply as I write. Gorgeous high quality Glennfiddich laced all butter pastry ones that are second only to home-made ones. Yum.Feel free to ignore my inane nonsense.

I loves me a mince pie for Christmas, and I bet it's been twenty years since I've tasted one!! Now, as to whether the American incarnation of mince pie even deserves the name, I can't say.....American is all I've seen.But the black pudding I once had in Aberdeen was mighty tasty, so you can't say I'm not game to try other folks' cuisine.

IMO, America's take on anything,....erm...not American, is trash. When I was in Kuwait I had some real curry and I loved it! I had some when I came back stateside and it was for shit.As for mince pies? I have never had one, but I make a point for myself to be "cultural" and I would love to try one. They are meat pies, yes?Edited by hooah212002, : added commas for clarification

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Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people
-Carl SaganFor me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
-Carl Sagan

Hi Hooah, Yes and no.The filling is "mincemeat", which is a mixture of sugar, dried fruit and spirits. Strictly, it should contain beef suet, ie. the fat from around the kidneys of cattle. I think most shop-bought ones - like the cheap-ass one I'm eating now - are vegetarian though.The name is traditional and comes from the days when people really did use minced beef, as a few still do. They are reminiscent of the kind of cooking that was popular in Tudor times, when mixing meat with sweet and smothering everything in spices was the order of the day.Mutate and Survive

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"A curious aspect of the theory of evolution is that everybody thinks he understands it." - Jacques Monod

Well blow me down, something we can agree on! Christmas isn't Christmas without one, even if I have to make it myself (most "mincemeat" hear doesn't contain any meat products). I use a shortbread crust to make them double dangerous. Ah, well if it isn't a 12 year old pure malt ... (Smith's Glenlivet is one of the few available here)Enjoy

Hi Granny Magda Especially when the meat got a little long in the tooth ... curious how many countries mix spice and sweet with meat (curry anyone? kung pao?) as a means to hid the age of the meat.Enjoy.

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Hi RAZD,Yeah, it's interesting how some things start out of practical necessity, only to become popular for their own sake. Fennel seeds are commonly added to curries not just for flavour, but because they are believed to aid digestion.Mutate and Survive

Nope..... - Oni

Now that the conversation has followed a natural course from mince pies to curry and the subject of old meat, has anyone ever dared to eat a "meat" curry?I.E. where the type of meat is unspecified on the menu.If so, any idea what kind of meat it might have been? Would you recommend it?Also, does anyone ever look at a common word, one they've seen thousands of times, and suddenly think it just doesn't look right? I'm getting that funny sensation with "meat" at this moment.

If a curry is described as 'meat' it means it's lamb.

No, but I've eaten many Doner kebabs (which are very popular as a late-night post-drinking meal here in the UK). They are traditionally supposed to be lamb, but one can never be sure!!

Thanks. I'd never dared to ask!

Nooooo. Not vegetarian (not traduitionally anyway) but not meat in the sense that the name (thee days) misleadingly suggests.Mince pie - Wikipedia

When I first saw those vertical spits I thought they were carving straight from the leg of some huge animal!Any idea why kebab shops have such unapetising displays of uncooked meat and dregs of salad under their glass counters? Does anyone find those displays attractive?

I fucking love mince pies!Especially the puff pastry ones you can get as Tesco!Yum, yum!