Yesterday, I tuned in Joanna Bogle's new EWTN program "Feasts & Seasons of the Church." It's very good. Joanna has an encyclopedic knowledge of Church history, and for this series she combines it with information about Advent, the December saints, and traditional recipes to help viewers build their domestic church.
Her explanation for the origins of mincemeat pie was very interesting. "Mincemeat" once was a blend of salted, dried beef, chopped and mixed with bits of fruit and spices. In the days before refrigeration, one sacrificed taste for sustenance, and so meat was salted. But one can only eat it for so long — imagine eating, say, Slim Jims several times a week — and so by December these rich pies came as a relief.
She then describes how Oliver Cromwell banned them. "'We're people of the book,' Cromwell taught. 'We don't need extra-biblical trappings and celebrations.'" And yet, as she explained, we're not people of the book, but "people of God." God through the Incarnation blesses material things. We are physical and spiritual persons. We use His creation to give Him glory, and we do it via beautifully-designed buildings, exquisitely-sculpted statues, and lovingly-created mincemeat pies, among countless other expressions.
"You must appreciate," she said, "how rare really good food was in England not so long ago. It was rare when I was a girl."
Italian-American homes were and are no different. My father used to tell me that he was raised on little more than chicken and stew; red meat was for special occasions.
Even after he emerged from poverty, that sentiment remained. So when the holidays roll around in Rochester, our family traditionally has acted like carnivores, devouring what my wife came to call "brown food." Veal cutlets. Brigioli. Meatballs. Strip steaks. My mother would spend all of Advent planning for and preparing these Chistmas Eve delicacies.
"I haven't seen anything green on a plate in five days," my wife once said as we drove home in late December.
As it should be.