Home-made Mincemeat and Mince Pies

This is Delia Smith’s recipe, so many thanks to her for allowing me to quote it. It really is the best I’ve ever tasted and, as she says, once you’ve made it and tried it, you’ll never again revert to shop-bought.

Mincemeat and the small pies made with it are echoes of the savoury-sweet pies of medieval times, and used actually to be made with shredded meat. This continued right up until quite recently –