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Lemon Mincemeat
Boil four ripe, thin-skinned lemons in one quart of water until reduced to one pint, then squeeze and strain the juice of the lemons into two pounds of powdered sugar; mince the rind and pulp of the lemons taking care to remove all the seeds, stone and chop one pound of raisins and mince fine two pounds of suet, mix them with the lemons, adding two pounds of well-washed and dried currants, one ounce of mixed ground spices, one-half pint of brandy and port wine in equal quantities, and the water in which the lemons were boiled. The mince-meat should be kept in a jar tightly covered until wanted for use.
A meatless mincemeat in the English style, sweet-sour rather than rich, and meant to sit in a crock for weeks before it goes into pastry. Two things decide whether it works: how far you take the lemons, and how you store it.
- Boil the lemons all the way downSimmering four whole lemons in a quart of water until only a pint remains will take roughly three-quarters of an hour to an hour uncovered, depending on the pan. The point is not the liquid but the rind: it should be soft enough to mince without a hard, bitter edge, and undercooked peel is a likely reason the mixture turns harsh.
- "Powdered sugar" is not confectioners' sugarIn 1896 the term meant granulated sugar ground fine, with no cornstarch in it. Use ordinary granulated or superfine sugar, two pounds by weight, about 4 1/2 cups.
- SuetTwo pounds of beef suet means the hard kidney fat, minced or grated fine, not trimmings. Ask a butcher; packaged shredded suet sold for baking is the nearest substitute, though it is usually dusted with flour and is often vegetable rather than beef. Frozen suet grates far more easily than fresh.
- Currants means dried Zante currantsThe small dried grapes sold in the baking aisle, not fresh red or black currants. "Well-washed and dried" mattered when they arrived gritty; modern packaged fruit needs only a rinse if it looks dusty.
- Mixed ground spicesOne ounce is roughly 4 tablespoons, which is a lot but correct for this volume. A period blend runs heavy on cinnamon and nutmeg with clove, mace and allspice behind them; British mixed spice or a pumpkin-pie blend is close.
- The spiritsHalf a pint total, so about 1/2 cup brandy and 1/2 cup port. Along with the sugar this is the preservative, and cutting it back shortens the keeping life sharply.
- Seeds and stonesLemon seeds are bitter and will not soften; pick them all out of the boiled fruit. "Stone one pound of raisins" reflects raisins that still had pips — modern seedless raisins simply need chopping.
- Storage, and where this differs from modern practiceThe lemon cooking water dilutes the mixture well below the sugar and alcohol concentration of a shelf-stable preserve, and the suet is raw. Refrigerate it in a covered jar rather than keeping it in a cool larder, and use it within a few weeks. Do not process it in jars for the pantry; a tested current recipe should be used for that.
- Yield and useThe listed ingredients come to about ten pounds of finished mincemeat, enough for a good many nine-inch pies or several dozen small tarts. It is a filling, not a finished dish, and improves after a week or two in the cold.
Mincemeat began as a way of keeping meat: spices, dried fruit, sugar and suet packed around chopped beef or mutton in a pastry coffin, a medieval English practice that survived into the nineteenth century in the form of pies that still carried a little shredded beef. By the time Oscar Tschirky, ma"tre d'h"tel of the Waldorf, compiled his 1896 volume, meatless versions had taken their place alongside the older kind, which was still common in American books of the period; the suet stayed, and the sweet fruit filling we know today was widely made. A lemon mincemeat like this one takes the logic a step further, replacing the meat's savour with the bitterness and acidity of whole boiled citrus hat appappears in English household books of the period under the name lemon mincemeat.