Good old-fashioned mince pie takes top honours
The winner scored the most because tasters thought it ‘looks like a Christmas mince pie should’.
The festive season heralds Christmas mince pie taste test for South Coast Herald staff members – a tradition that dates back a couple of decades.
The early mince pie was known by several names, including ‘mutton pie’, ‘shrid pie’ and ’Christmas pie’ and typical ingredients were a mixture of minced meat, suet and a range of fruits and spices like cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.
ALSO READ : It’s time for the mince pie taste test
Served around Christmas, the mince pie was associated with supposed Catholic ‘idolatry’ and during the English Civil War was frowned on by Puritan authorities.
Nevertheless, the tradition of eating mince pies in December continued through to the Victorian era, although by then its recipe had become sweeter and its size markedly reduced from the large oblong shape once observed.
This year’s line-up comprised a luxury fruit mince pie from Food Lover’s Market (R34,99 for six), the Woolworths clemengold variety (R49,99 for nine small pies), Spar Freshline (R32.99 for six), Pick n Pay deep-filled mince pies (R34.99 for six), traditional pies from Woolworths (R35.99 for six), and Checkers (R34.99 for six).
Pies were tasted ‘blind’, stripped of packaging and branding.
Points were awarded for appearance, taste and texture.
And this year’s winner is … the deep-filled pie from Pick n Pay, which was also voted best value because of size.
The Woolworths clemengold placed second, but proved the most expensive.
The Food Lover’s Market pie was voted third favourite and tasters really loved the appearance with a star as the top crust.
One comment for the winning pie was ‘has the good old traditional taste and look of a Christmas pie, with a perfect combination of filling, spices and pastry’.
The Spar mince pie scored highest for freshness and the traditional pies from Checkers and Woolworths lost points because the pastry was deemed dry and crumbly.
All in all, it was a close competition and tasters were hard pressed to single out the best.
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