JBarstool said: Mincemeat has never contained any meat though some used fat or suet but mostly was a combination of heavily spiced dried fruit and nuts -
Wikipedia quotes a 19th century recipe for mincemeat that includes meat:
Ingredients — 2 lb. of raisins, 3 lb. currants, 1+1⁄2 lb. of lean beef, 3 lb. of beef suet, 2 lb. of moist sugar, 2 oz. of citron, 2 oz. of candied lemon-peel, 2 oz. of candied orange-peel, 1 small nutmeg, 1 pottle of apples, the rind of 2 lemons, the juice of 1, 1⁄2 pint of brandy.
Mode — Stone and cut the raisins once or twice across, but do not chop them; wash, dry, and pick the currants free from stalks and grit, and mince the beef and suet, taking care the latter is chopped very fine; slice the citron and candied peel, grate the nutmeg, and pare, core, and mince the apples; mince the lemon-peel, strain the juice, and when all the ingredients are thus prepared, mix them well together, adding the brandy when the other things are well blended; press the whole into a jar, carefully exclude the air, and the mincemeat will be ready for use in a fortnight.
The article does say that by the late 19th century, it was more common to make mincemeat with no meat.
I think my father said that my grandmother still made mincemeat with meat in the 1930s and 1940s.
