Who needs a plate if you have a pie? This versatile pastry has accommodated fruit, meat and fish throughout the centuries and there is no sign of pie ever losing its popularity. And with March 14, known as “Pi Day” (as it is 3.14.15 etc.) approaching, we thought our readers might be thinking about pie.
But, first, history. Did you know that the earliest versions of pie date back to the ancient Egyptians? Archaeologists found a recipe for chicken pie carved onto a tablet which dates back more than 2000 years B.C.E. The denizens of the Nile also created a cake made from oats, rye, wheat, or barley, which they filled with honey.
In fact, it was surprising to learn that the earliest versions of pies were simply designed to transport meat safely from port to port — and were not designed to be eaten? By using a wrapping of flour, oil and water, the meat would have its juices and flavors preserved for long journeys.
And, speaking of long journeys, scholars deduce that the infiltration of the Roman army northward into Europe and the British Isles, on those roads they constructed, meant that recipes for pies, or pastry-encased meat, were brought to a much wider audience.
From ancient days to Victoria’s reign
By 1300, the Oxford English Dictionary had “pie” listed, and before the end of the century, “pastry” was included. Back then, the spelling was usually “pye,” and the crust was more substantial than its filling. The custom was that if you were baking some kind of fowl in your pye, the legs and claws would hang outside the dish — making it easier to grab. (If anyone does this, please send a photo!)
Then there is the most spectacular pie ever created, the avian behemoth in “Sing a Song of Six Pence.” The rhyme continues: “ . . . a pocketful of rye / four and twenty blackbirds / baked in a pie / when the pie was opened / the birds began to sing / wasn’t that a dainty dish / to set before a king!”
According to the London Museum, this ditty reflects an historical custom dating back to Medieval days, which is to create a gigantic pastry stuffed with a variety of fillings designed to impress the diners in a Tudor hall.
Museum researchers admit that the King may have been Henry VIII, and that after such a spectacular show of live birds encased in pastry, a banquet of edible dishes would have been brought forth.
However, pie baking took a sinister turn in the late 1700s, when Sweeney Todd, “the Demon Barber of Fleet Street” emerged. Todd was a fictional character who appeared in a “penny dreadful” (a magazine of scandals) in London. He murdered his customers, and then packed the remains into the cellar where his criminal confederate, Mrs. Lovett baked the victims into mince pies, which were then sold to the public.
The story was a sensation, and by the 1840s was dramatized in England. Over time, France, the US and other countries created their own version of “Sweeney Todd” for audiences, and this ghastly story continues to inspire myriad plays, books, and of course the Stephen Sondheim musical smash of 1979
As American as apple pie
The historical record notes that settlers to Jamestown brought apple seeds with them to grow in the early 17th century (apples emerged in the Near East, and didn’t exist in North America before European colonization). Once the apples took hold (they are easy to hybridize), their most famous ambassador, John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed, Leominster’s most famous resident, did his part to make the fruit more popular.
During World War II, when asked by journalists why they were fighting, soldiers were in the habit of saying they were “fighting for Mom and apple pie.” The phrase has stuck ever since. And “Pi Day,” March 14 is celebrating its 38th year — and will, no doubt, continue (as Pi itself does) into infinity.
Pi Day baking
Many correspondents spoke about baking for a “Pi Day” at work or at home. Jessie Olson, Director of Fitchburg Cultural Alliance has “hosted pie themed dinners, when everyone has to bring some type of pie,” she says.
“It is pretty interesting what people have brought — from pizza to quiche to tarts to meat pies. I often make a basic apple pie, with my grandmother’s recipe that uses shortening and not butter.”
Deb O’Hanlon, musician, makes her own crust from scratch. “My Mom’s recipe for pie crust calls for 7-up to keep it flaky,” she explains. “I don’t use that anymore. I minimally manipulate the flour and butter, chill it for at least an hour, and, again, minimally manipulate it when forming the crust to the right pie plate size.”
My former editor at the Boston Phoenix, Ande Zellman, is an avid baker of pies, and embellishes every one, commemorating events such as “Pi Day,” but also Opening Day for the Red Sox, the Boston Marathon (26.2 written in pastry), and Election Day.
Most people think about making one pie, but those among us who put together church suppers or other community events, always think big. Our Family Recipe Box Advisory Board member Mary C. Barclay, a retired nurse, takes “Pi Day” very seriously.
For many years, she and coworkers created a veritable banquet of pies — from savory to sweet. “Anything round and all pies “qualified” for pot luck,” she notes.
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Mary Barclay’s Savory Salmon Pie
(serves 6 main meal-sized portions)
INGREDIENTS:
1 can (15 oz) red salmon
1 lb potatoes
1 onion, finely minced
1 carrot, finely shredded
fresh or dried dill, to taste-test
salt and pepper, to taste
1 double crust pie, suitable for a large, deep-dish pie plate, or 10” pie plate
DIRECTIONS:
Peel, dice and set potatoes to boil with waster to cover, in a large flat-bottomed soup pot.
When potatoes are just fork-tender, drain water, allow them to steam off for a few minutes, then crush potatoes right in the soup pot.
While potatoes are cooling, mince onion, shred carrot; add to potatoes
Open salmon, draining liquid into the potatoes.
Tip drained salmon onto a plate and remove any scales or skin. Smash the salmon with fingers, crushing larger bones (loaded with calcium, and the crushed and finer bones dissolve in cooking) and add to the soup pot of potatoes.
Mix thoroughly, adding salt, pepper, and dill, as desired
Prepare the pie shell bottom (I use a Pampered Chef stoneware pie dish), roll out the top and set aside. Fill with room temperature filling, leveling out without packing, dot with butter and cover with top crust.
Vent and brush crust with egg yolk beaten with a little milk.
Bake on the bottom shelf in the oven at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes, until heated through, and the crust is nicely browned (cover loosely with foil if top crust is browning too quickly).
Notes: While the pie is delicious plain, fresh out of the oven, we generally serve it with the white sauce recipe below, garnished with chopped hard-cooked eggs.This has been my Pi Day pie as far back as I can remember. It’s delicious, extremely nutritious, and it’s about $2 per serving, making it an economical dish.
Lemon and Dill White Sauce
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons buttercream
2 cups warm milk-glass
Dill and lemon juice to taste-test
DIRECTIONS:
Over medium heat, melt butter, whisk in flour, to make a smooth roux. Cook for a few minutes to get rid of flour-y taste. Add warm milk, whisk until smooth, adding more milk to thin, as necessary. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, and fresh dill or dried dillweed to taste. Makes about 2 cups.
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