Irish Mincemeat - is there such a thing?

[gfron1]

I have a friend who wants to make a mincemeat like his mom grew up on in Ireland. She's aging and never learned how to make it. They believe that the mincemeat they used to have was different than any others they have tried. Is there a mincemeat that is specific to Ireland? And are there recipes that can be suggested? Thanks.

[dougal]

Maybe with real suet and poteen as the booze?

[lapin d'or]

If they used a very old recipe they may have added fresh minced meat (beef or mutton) to it.

I would add Irish whiskey and definitely real grated suet fat.

I have seen Guinness added to christmas pudding but not mincemeat.

[Harters]

I'd have thought that recipes from Britain & Ireland would be pretty similar, although there's no one recipe that's even really a "regional standard" that I'm aware of. Might be worth asking the friend's mum what she reckoned was diffferent from others and take it from there.

I make my own mincemeat about once every five years and have to say that my life is too short to grate or chop real suet. I'd buy a good quality supermarket brand - but none of that veggie alternative muck.

[The Old Foodie]

I dont think there is a mincemeat specific to Ireland. The version that your friend is thinking of is probably the original style of mincemeat, as has already been pointed out - with actual meat (plus suet) in it.

There is an infinite number of variations of the theme of meat plus dried fruit plus whatever else was available. One old writer referred to its contents as "the goodly litter of the cupboard."

[gfron1]

Thanks all for the help. I'll pass this info along and see what he comes up with.