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Mince for Patties
Warm, in a quarter of a pint of good gravy well thickened, two table-spoonfuls of ham, four of the white part of a fowl, one egg (hard boiled), the whole to be finely minced. Add, pounded, half a blade of mace, two cloves, and pepper and salt to taste. When hot through, fill the patty-cases, which should have been previously baked. Mince for patties may be made of any description of cold meat, poultry, shell-fish, etc. Probable cost, 9d. The above quantities are sufficient to fill six patties.
A Victorian way of using up cold roast fowl and a scrap of ham: a thick, highly seasoned mince spooned into pre-baked pastry shells at the last moment. Two things decide whether it works — the gravy must be thick enough to bind, and the filling goes in hot, just before serving.
- The measureA quarter of a British imperial pint is 5 fl oz, about two-thirds of a US cup. That is a small amount of liquid for six tablespoons of minced meat plus a chopped egg, which is the point: it should coat, not swim.
- Thicken it properly"Good gravy well thickened" means a sauce of coating consistency, thick enough to bind the mince. A thin gravy will soak into the pastry base and the case will soften.
- Patty-casesThese are small puff-pastry shells — what a cook might also call vol-au-vent or bouchee cases, baked blind and hollowed out. Frozen or bakery-bought shells work; warm them through dry in a hot oven before filling.
- A blade of maceMace is the lacy aril of the nutmeg, sold as flat "blades" or ground. Half a blade is a small pinch of ground mace, no more than an eighth of a teaspoon; it is assertive and quickly turns soapy in excess.
- Pound the spicesThe mace and cloves are pounded, not left whole. A whole clove bitten into in a small pastry case is unpleasant — grind them to powder in a mortar or use a scant pinch of ground clove.
- Mince fine, and by handChop with a knife rather than pulsing in a processor. Cooked breast meat and hard-boiled egg turn to paste in a machine, and the dish depends on distinct small pieces suspended in sauce.
- Reheating cooked meat"When hot through" should mean genuinely steaming, 165F, and reached quickly. Hold the mince over low heat only as long as it takes to fill the cases; long simmering dries the shredded breast to threads.
- Yield and costSix patties, as stated — a first course or savoury for three. The 9d costing is the shopping price around the 1870s–90s and is a period detail rather than useful information.
This is a formula rather than a fixed recipe: any cold meat, poultry or shellfish, minced, bound in a little thick sauce and dropped into pastry. Victorian households roasted large joints and whole birds and were expected to account for every remnant, and the hot patty was one of the more respectable disguises — served as an entree at luncheon or as a savoury, it looked deliberate rather than thrifty. The pairing of mace and clove is a long-standing one in English potted and minced meats. Pastry cases could be made in quantity by the cook or bought from a confectioner, kept dry, and filled only at the moment of service.