Little Jack Horner
Sat in a corner
Eating a Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb
And pulled out a plum
And said “What a good boy am I!”

The real Jack Horner was Thomas Horner, a servant to Richard Whiting, who was a church official at Glastonbury in the time of Henry VIII. That greedy monarch was engaged at the time in seizing as much of the Church’s lands as he could get away with. In an effort to appease him, Whiting sent him an unusual Christmas present- a mince pie with the deeds to a dozen rich estates hidden inside it. He hoped the king would be satisfied and not take any more of his lands. Horner was entrusted with the secret mission. On the way, it is said, he opened the pie and stole one of the deeds for himself. With this “plum”, he made his fortune. Little did he know that he would be remembered in a bit of nonsense verse hundreds of years after his death.

We can (I think) enjoy mince pies baked in the traditional shape without reproach during the holiday season. The following recipe is Elizabethan -I’m using it because I already have a reconstruction for it on hand, but there are plenty of medieval recipes for meat and fruit pies. These recipes use beef, mutton, chicken, venison, partridges, capons, chicken, veal or other meat in a bewildering assortment of spice and fruit combinations. Remembering that meat was far leaner then than it is now, almost all period recipes add suet or marrow to the filling. If the thought of adding suet leaves you cold, you may opt instead to pour a bit of melted margarine over the assembled pie filling to prevent it from drying out too much.

REAL MINCE PIE

For pyes of Mutton or Beefe: Shred your meat and suet togither fine, season it with cloves, mace, Pepper, and some Saffron, great Raisins, Corance and prunes, and so put it into your Pyes.
-A.W.: A Book of Cookrye Very necessary for all such as delight therein

1 1/2 lb lean mutton or beef
1/4 lb. suet (optional)
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground mace
1/2 tsp. black pepper
pinch of saffron
1/4 c. raisins
1/4 c. currants
1/4 c. pitless prunes, chopped
1 recipe pastry ( follows filling recipe)

For the glaze, 1 T each butter, sugar and rosewater melted together

Mince the meat, and mix in the suet (if using) spices, pepper, saffron and dried fruit.
Roll out 3/4 of dough for bottom and sides of pie; line a smallish springform (loose-bottom) pie tin - or, if you choose to made a traditionally shaped pie, a standard bread pan - with the rolled dough. Pack meat mixture into the prepared crust. Roll out remaining dough to make a lid, and press firmly in place over the meat, dampening the edges to sealing well; trim the surplus dough and crimp. Decorate the top of the pie as desired. Cut a hole in the top to vent, brush with egg wash and place into a preheated 425* oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350* and bake for an additional 1 1/4 hours. If using a springform pan, remove the sides, brush with glaze and return to oven for 15 minutes. If using a bread pan, brush top and return to oven as above. Makes one pie, 6-10 servings.

A COFFYN

To make paste and to raise coffyns- Take fine flour and lay it on a board and take a certaine of yolks of egges as your quantity of flower is, then take a certain of Butter and water and boile them together but you must take heed ye put too many yolkes of egges, for if you doe it will make it dry and not pleasant in eating, and ye must take heed ye put not in too much Butter, for if you doe, it will make it so fine and short that you cannot raise it: and this paste is good to raise all manner of coffyns...
-The Good Huswives Handmaid for Cookerie in her Kitchen- 1588

3 c. flour
1 t. salt
4 oz. lard
1/2 c. water
1 egg yolk

Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Melt lard and water in a saucepan until very hot. Pour over flour mix and stir together quickly. Stir in the egg yolk, then knead to make a smooth fairly stiff dough. Allow to rest 30 minutes before rolling out.

(reconstructions by Gwen)