Record revealed
A recipe for six mince pies 'of an indifferent biggnesse'
Mince pies have been enjoyed at Christmas for centuries. But the recipe has changed over the years – would you try this 17th-century version that includes a leg of veal?
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A recipe for six mince pies handwritten in Early Modern English
Transcript
For six Minst pyes of an Indifferent biggnesse.
Take halfe a peck of the finest flower, 2 lb of sugar, 2 lb of butter, a loyne of fatt mutton, with a litle of a legg of veale to mynce with it. 2 lb of reasons of the sunn, as many curronts, of cloves, mace and nuttmegys one ownce.
For the paist mingle 1 pound and a halfe of sugar with the flower and breake in the yolkes of six eggs, then worke it together with 3 parts of the two pounds of butter. Sett on a little water, and lett it seethe, then scym it and put in the 4th parte of the butter and when it is melted, scym it cleane from the water and worke it with the paist.
For the Meate. Let it be seasoned with pepper and mingled with halfe a pound of sugar, the other frute and spyce, the raisons must be stoned and some of them minced amongst the meate, the others put in hole, put in the jouce of two orringes and one leamone and the ryne of them smale mynced.
When the pyes are filled slyce dates and stick in the top, and when you sett them into the oven wash them over with the yolkes of eggs and pynn them upp in papers.
Modern English
For six mince pies of an indifferent bigness.
Take half a peck of the finest flour, two pounds of sugar, two pounds of butter, a loin of fat mutton, with a little of a leg of veal to mince with it. Two pounds of raisins of the sun, as many currants, of cloves, mace and nutmegs one ounce.
For the pastry, mingle one and a half pounds of sugar with the flour and break in the yolks of six eggs, then work it together with three parts of the two pounds of butter. Set it on a little water, and let it boil, then skim it and put in the fourth part of the butter and when it is mixed, skim it clean off the water and work it with the pastry.
For the meat. Let it be seasoned with pepper and mingled with half a pound of sugar, the other fruit and spice, the raisins must be stoned and some of them minced among the meat, the others put in whole, put in the juice of two oranges and one lemon and the rind of them minced small.
When the pies are filled slice dates and stick in the top, and when you set them into the over wash them over with the yolks of eggs and pin them up in papers.
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Close up of the title ‘For six minse pyes of an indifferent biggnesse’
Why this record matters
Date: 1603–1625
Catalogue reference: SP 14/189
In the early 1600s, a cook wrote down a recipe for ‘six minst pyes of an indifferent biggnesse’. The recipe contains many elements we would recognise today as parts of a mince pie – spices, raisins, currants, sugar, and a pastry case. The pastry is made of flour, butter and eggs (standard pastry ingredients) and the butter is heated up with some water before adding it to the flour and eggs.
Other elements of the recipe are a little stranger, however. As well as the sugar, spices and dried fruit, the filling calls for a loin of fat mutton and a little of a leg of veal. Beginning in the Middle Ages, mince pie recipes include meat – often lamb, as here, but sometimes beef or pork. There is a pork mince pie recipe in the Forme of Cury, a cookbook written about 1390 and associated with Richard II’s court.
This recipe also features some unusual measurements – for example, half a peck of flour. A peck could be used to measure both liquid and dry ingredients and was equivalent to 16 pints, and so the recipe requires eight pints (about 4.5 litres) of flour.
Stranger still, though, is the story of how the recipe ended up in The National Archives. On the top left of the document is a stamp that reads ‘Conway Papers’. This stamp is a clue to its provenance. The recipe formed part of the papers of the first Viscount Conway, a self-educated soldier who worked his way up the ranks to become an important figure in James I’s court. He was appointed Secretary of State in 1623.
These papers might never have arrived at The National Archives. In the mid 1700s, the writer and politician Horace Walpole visited the Conway estate and found the historic papers of the family in complete disarray, with the majority kept on the floor of the lumber room and used to light fires. His horror led to the family looking after the papers more carefully. They stayed in the Conway estate's hands until the then Lord Hertford bequeathed them to his friend and advisor, John Wilson Croker, in 1824.
Croker planned to publish the collection, but his edition never materialised. Instead, he decided to leave the Conway Papers to the nation, splitting them between the British Museum and the Public Record Office in 1856. The records are now held at the British Library and The National Archives, and include poetry by John Donne, autograph letters from great men and women of the day, and this humble mince pie recipe.
