American website 'finds out the hard way' that mincemeat doesn't contain beef mince
An American website has been called an ‘abomination’ by Brits on social media after sharing a recipe for an apple and mincemeat tart featuring actual minced beef.
A recipe on The Spruce Eats listed sugar and apples to be combined with 225g of mincemeat, but the photos depict beef mince neatly pressed into a pastry case, suggesting some serious stateside confusion on the make-up of the ‘classic British Christmas treat’.
Luckily, they saw the funny side. The site later took down the photos and admitted they had “learned the hard way” that mincemeat is, in fact, a sweet treat.
People were both outraged and confused by the culinary faux pas.
utterly obsessed with this american site that has confused mince with mincemeat, and created this abomination pic.twitter.com/Y31NqYGYrV
— Luke Bailey (@imbadatlife) December 9, 2019
Luke Bailey shared the recipe on Twitter, writing: ‘Utterly obsessed with this american site that has confused mince with mincemeat, and created this abomination.’
One person wrote: ‘Wait...it’s not meat? Then why did you name the thing meat?!’
Consumer watchdog Which? waded in to add: ‘We would be giving that a big Don't Buy in our mince pie taste test.’
Others pointed out the mishap was reminiscent of a Friends episode, where Rachel makes a trifle including layers of beef for Thanksgiving.
— Tweet_Deck The Halls 🎄 (@Tweet_Dec) December 9, 2019
READ MORE: How to make the Queen's mince pies
One bemused person wrote: ‘Genuinely assumed this was what mince pies have always been. What is being minced if not meat?’
Others took a stab at British cuisine, commenting: ‘This looks like every other weird gross thing people eat in England’.
However, the recipe has now been amended, and the offending beef photos removed.
On the website, an editor’s note reads: ‘What's the difference between mincemeat and, say, minced meat? As we found out the hard way, modern-day mincemeat is a sweet concoction.
“While the tart filling did once contain beef and lamb (à la Rachel's now-infamous "Friends" trifle), current recipes use a blend of dried and fresh fruits, sugar, Brandy, and suet.’
