Pie: A Global History (The Edible Series)

138 Pages·2009·2.07 MB·English

by  Janet Clarkson

Pie
A Global History
Janet Clarkson
the edible series


Edible
SeriesEditor:AndrewF.Smith
isarevolutionarynewseriesof booksdedicatedtofoodand
drinkthatexplorestherichhistoryof cuisine.Eachbookrevealsthe
globalhistoryandcultureof onetypeof foodorbeverage.
Alreadypublished
Pancake KenAlbala Spices FredCzarra
Pizza CarolHelstosky HotDog BruceKraig
Hamburger AndrewF.Smith
Forthcoming
Bread WilliamRubel IceCream LauraWeiss
Cake NicolaHumble Lobster ElisabethTownsend
Caviar NicholaFletcher Milk HannahVelten
Dates NawalNasrallah Pasta KanthaShelke
Cheese AndrewDalby Soup JanetClarkson
Chocolate SarahMoss Tea HelenSaberi
Cocktails JosephM.Carlin Tomato DeborahA.Duchon
Coffee JonathanMorris Vodka PatriciaHerlihy
Curry ColleenTaylorSen Whiskey KevinR.Rosar
FishandChips PanikosPanayi Wine MarcMillon
Pie
A Global History
Janet Clarkson
 
PublishedbyReaktionBooksLtd
GreatSuttonStreet
London,
www.reaktionbooks.co.uk
Firstpublished
Copyright©JanetClarkson
Allrightsreserved
Nopartof thispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrieval
system,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,
mechanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise,withouttheprior
permissionof thepublishers.
PrintedandboundinChinabyC&COffsetPrintingCo.,Ltd
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
Clarkson,Janet
Pie:aglobalhistory.–(Edible)
.Pie
I.Title
.’
-:
Contents
Prologue: Preliminary Observations on Pie 
1 A Brief History of Pie 
2 The Universal Appeal of Pie 
3 Pies by Design 
4 Filling Stuff 
5 Special Occasion Pies 
6 Around the World with Pie 
7 Imaginary Pies 
Epilogue: The Future of Pie 
Recipes 
Select Bibliography 
Websites and Associations 
Acknowledgements 
Photo Acknowledgements 
Index 

Prologue: Preliminary
Observations on Pie
Imaynotbeabletodefineapie,butIknowonewhenIseeit.
RaymondSokolov
It behoves, I am told, every author to consider the scope of
herworkbeforelaunchingintoit.Noproblem,Ithought.It
issimple.ItisaboutPie.Itisalso,Iamtold,essentialforthe
authortodescribethescopeof herworkatitsbeginning,in
ordertoforewarnherreaders.Simple,Ithought.Iwillstartby
definingPie.Intheend,Ifailedutterly.Iwouldhaveagonized
less over my failure had I remembered the above quotation
ratherearlierinthepiecethanIdid.If theillustriousanderu-
dite Raymond Sokolov cannot define pie, who am I even to
attemptit?Nevertheless,Idon’tregrettheattempt,asitwas
fascinating and enlightening in ways that I would not have
suspected.
I began with a memory I had of a venison pie I once
ordered at an upmarket restaurant. After exactly the right
anticipatory interval my dinner arrived. It was very elegant.
On a base of fluffy garlic mashed potatoes was a cleverly
layered construction of julienned vegetables topped with
sliversof tender,rarevenison,thewholesurmountedwitha
precariously balanced disc of puff pastry. It was delicious,

butitwasnotpie.Iwasquitesurethatitwasnotpie.Clearly,
the chef and I had vastly differing opinions on the issue,
which brought me to an early epiphany. When – and if – I
came up with my concise, accurate definition of pie, not
everyoneelseintheworldwouldagreewithit.
But surely there would be some areas of consensus as a
startingpoint?Piesarenotpiessimplybecausetheyarecalled
pies. The American treat called Eskimo pie, for example, is
unequivocally ice cream, and moon pie is a chocolate biscuit
with pretensions. Boston cream pie is certainly a cake, but
apparentlycalledpiebecauseitisbakedinapietin,bywhich
logic I could cook porridge in a pie pan and call it ‘porridge
pie’. Other ‘pies’ are more problematic. Is a sausage roll a
small pie? Should I include cobbler and pandowdy, which
seem like failed pies with broken lids? Traditional Scottish
blackbunandEnglishsimnelcakearefruitcakeswithpastry
shells.Dotheycount?Iponderedcottagepieandshepherd’s
pie.Thesehavealayeredpie-likestructurecertainly,butwere
(tome)instantlydefinableasnot‘real’pies.Whynot?Another
epiphanydawned.Becausetheyhavenopastry.Itseemedthat
myattemptatdefinitionwasdevolvingintoasetof minimal
criteria, at least for the purposes of this book. This second
epiphanyledtotheFirstLawof Pies:‘NoPastry,NoPie’.
ForreasonswhichwillbecomeapparentinchapterOne,
I immediately came up with the Second Law of Pies: they
mustbebaked,notfried(orboiled,orsteamed).Onemore
lawastothenumberandlocationof crustsrequired(single
top,singlebottom,ordouble),andmycriteriawouldbeset
–orsoIthought.FormulatingtheThirdLawof Piesproved
tobeanextraordinarilydifficultpartof thechallenge,andI
amstillfarfromsurethatIhaveresolveditinasatisfactory
manner. I began my crust count with the Oxford English
Dictionary,whichassertsthatapieis:
