Here in Istanbul there used to be a group for British women called Corona. We had a lot of fun with that group over the years but sadly it folded a few years ago.
I do remember however, that the currants available at that time were full of seeds so preparing them was indeed a job in itself.<
I will be forever grateful to those dedicated Corona ladies at the IWI Christmas Bazaar as they would always have jars of homemade mincemeat (made with those UK ingredients!), puddings and cakes too for sale.
I never made the latter as my mother would always make them herself in her own kitchen in Camberley and bring them on her lap on the plane. I was too busy teaching and looking after hearth and home to even dream of making these traditional goodies myself.
Times have changed in more than one way: those wonderful kuru yemiş shops sell every possible variation of currant under the sun it seems to me, including nice black currants with no seeds! You can now find imported mincemeat at the upmarket supermarkets eg Macro but at a price. And on a personal level, at last I have the time to make it myself.
So this morning I made a batch of mincemeat following friend Lesley’s New Zealand recipe from the 1950s and it worked beautifully. The recipe comes from a hugely popular radio personality of the time called Aunt Daisy. Have you ever heard of her?
Aunt Daisy’s Mincemeat (Old Fashioned)
Ingredients
- One cup each chopped currants/siyah kuru üzüm,raisins/sarı kuru üzüm, apples and suet/iç yağı, 1 lemon (grated rind and juice), 1 oz chopped candied peel/şekerli meyve, 1oz/50g chopped almonds/badem, a little nutmeg/hindistan cevizi and spice, 1 cup *brown sugar. Mix with a little brandy or rum, and keep in airtight jars.
- Originally all the chopping would have been done by hand as kitchen appliances were virtually unknown in New Zealand. Now, give the dried fruit a brief zap in your food processor and grate the apple using the largest holes. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl.
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