Page 14 - Pie It Forward: Pies, Tarts, Tortes, Galettes, and Other Pastries Reinvented

on pie” was eventually forsaken and, instead,

porcelain birds were settled into the pie and

allowed to peek out, creating both a form of pie

identification and a vent for steam.

READER: Is apple pie really all that American?

PIE: Yes, of course. Berry pies, probably even

more so. And don’t get me started on pumpkin.

Pies in the Old Country were most often savory. In

the New World, industrious cooks plucked and

picked what was immediately available and, like

the good locavores they were, filled their pies with

what was nearby, like indigenous berries and tree

fruits. Thrifty Pilgrims used shallow pans lined

with pastry as a vessel for baking local berries and

a baking tradition took hold in the Americas,

giving rise to a pantheon of splendid American

beauties like apple pie, pecan pie, sour cherry pie,

and the nonpie pies like Boston cream pie (likely