Why Pies Aren’t Squared and Other Mysteries

While there’s nothing more American than apple pie, the fact is that this seemingly all-American food has a long, diverse and even distinguished pedigree.

“Though we tend to think of pies as an American tradition, they’ve been around for centuries,” says Patti West, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System regional food safety agent who operates Extension’s Food Testing and Labeling Center.

West defines pie as “any dish that consists of a crust that encloses or holds a tasty filling.” The filling could be fish, vegetables, cheese, creams, chocolate, custards and nuts, to name only a few. Indeed, the preference for filling often reflects the country of origin.

Romans, who apparently originated the first pie, were known to favor a rye-crusted mixture of goat cheese and honey — history’s first known pie — only they didn’t eat the crust, using it merely to preserve the moisture and flavor of the filling, West says.

Our English cousins began baking pies sometime around the 12th century — mostly meat pies with the crust referred to as the “coffyn.” In most cases, there was far more crust than filling.

Some of these ancient English recipes would raise eyebrows in the 21st century — one, for example, calling for a whole fowl with legs protruding out of the crust to serve as handles.

Pies crossed the Atlantic with the first English explorers. Within only a couple of centuries colonial women began using round pies literally to cut corners. Rounding off the corners enabled cooks to stretch scarce ingredients, West says.

The new and exotic fruits the early settlers discovered growing on the continent were quickly incorporated as pie fillings — one reason why fruit pies occupy such a prominent place in American cuisine. Indeed, before they became America's favorite dessert, fruit pies were commonly eaten for breakfast in the 19th century.

Cooks in different parts of the emerging country also began developing their own distinct recipes — pumpkin pie in New England and pecan and sweet potato pie in the South.

Incidentally, Americans on average eat six slices of pie per year — small wonder why they have become the food for all seasons, West says.

“Hot summer days are perfect for Chiffon pies, made with fruit, gelatin and no-bake cookie crust,” she says, adding that cobblers and crisps also are considered popular summer treats, at least when fruit is amply available.

With the arrival of fall come pumpkin, pecan and sweet potato pie, followed in the winter by apple and cheery pies — both exceptionally popular on cold winter days.

Pies even have influenced American slang, West says.

The term “upper crust,” for example, refers to early American history, when only affluent households could afford the expensive ingredients to make the upper and lower crusts of the pie — hence, the term “upper crust” commonly applied to wealthier people.

Posted by Jim Langcuster at January 30, 2008 04:12 PM