Pie

(1568–1625) and Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) depicting several bird pies. Cooked birds were frequently placed by European royal cooks on top of a large pie to identify its contents. A possible origin is that the word 'pie' is connected with a word used in farming to indicate 'a collection of things made into a heap', for example a heap of potatoes covered with earth. One source of the word "pie" may be the magpie, a "bird known for collecting odds and ends in its nest"; the connection could be that Medieval pies also contained many different animal meats, including chickens, crows, pigeons and rabbits. One 1450 recipe for "grete pyes" that might support the "magpie" etymology contained what Charles Perry called "odds and ends", including: "...beef, beef suet, capons, hens, both mallard and teal ducks, rabbits, woodcocks and large birds such as herons and storks, plus beef marrow, hard-cooked egg yolks, dates, raisins and prunes." ==History==

Antiquity Early pies were in the form of flat, round or freeform crusty cakes called galettes consisting of a crust of ground oats, wheat, rye, or barley containing honey inside. These galettes developed into a form of early sweet pastry or desserts, evidence of which can be found on the tomb walls of the Pharaoh Ramesses II, who ruled from 1304 to 1237 BC, located in the Valley of the Kings. The Romans made a plain pastry of flour, oil, and water to cover meats and fowls which were baked, thus keeping in the juices. The Roman approach of covering "...birds or hams with dough" has been called more of an attempt to prevent the meat from drying out during baking than an actual pie in the modern sense. The first written reference to a Roman pie is for a rye dough that was filled with a mixture of goat's cheese and honey. By 160 BC, Roman statesman Marcus Porcius Cato (234–149 BC), who wrote De Agri Cultura, notes the recipe for the most popular pie/cake called placenta. Also called libum by the Romans, it was more like a modern-day cheesecake on a pastry base, often used as an offering to the gods. With the development of the Roman Empire and its efficient road transport, pie cooking spread throughout Europe. These pies were meant to be eaten with the hands. The hardened coffyn pastry was not necessarily eaten, its function being to contain the filling for baking, and to extend its shelf-life. The thick crust was so sturdy it had to be cracked open to get to the filling. Ceramic pie dishes were not used until the 16th century. Medieval pie crusts were often baked first, to create a "pot" of baked dough with a removable top crust, hence the name pot pie. The recipe included spices, apples, raisins pears and figs. The 14th-century French chef Taillevent instructed bakers to "crenelate" pie shells and "reinforce them so that they can support the meat"; one of his pies was high enough that it resembled a model of a castle, an illusion enhanced by miniature banners for the nobles at the event. It was in the 16th century that a puff paste began to be used to make flakier pie crusts. In Gervase Markham's 1615 book The English Huswife, there is a recipe for puff paste where the paste is kneaded, rolled thinly many times while layering with butter. This made a flaky butter pastry to cover meat for pies or for tarts. There is also a pie recipe that calls for "an entire leg of mutton and three pounds of suet..., along with salt, cloves, mace, currants, raisins, prunes, dates, and orange peel", which made a huge pie that could serve a large group. In the 17th century, Ben Jonson described a skilled pie cook by comparing the cook to a fortification builder who "...Makes citadels of curious fowl and fish" and makes "dry-ditches", "bulwark pies" and "ramparts of immortal crusts". Pumpkin pie was fashionable in England from the 1650s onward, then fell out of favour during the 18th century. Pumpkin was sliced, fried with sweet herbs sweetened with sugar and eggs were added. This was put into a pastry case with currants and apples. Pumpkin pie was introduced to America by early colonists where it became a national dish. Apple pie became popular, because apples were easy to dry and store in barrels over the winter. Pie fillings could be made with very few ingredients to "stretch" their "meager provisions". By the 19th century pies were a staple of the American family meal and women were responsible for figuring out how to make tasty pies that fit within the family budget. Once the British had established Caribbean colonies, sugar became less expensive and more widely available, which meant that sweet pies could be readily made. Molasses was popular in American pies due to the rum and slave trade with the Caribbean Islands, and maple syrup was an important sweetener in Northern states, after Indigenous people taught settlers how to tap maple trees and boil down the sap. In the Midwest, cheese and cream pies were popular, due to the availability of big dairy farms. In the US south, African-Americans enjoyed sweet potato pies, due to the widespread availability of this type of potato. By the 1870s, the new science of nutrition led to criticism of pies, notably by Sarah Tyson Rorer, a cooking teacher and food editor who warned the public about how much energy pies take to digest. Rorer stated that all pie crusts "...are to be condemned" and her cookbook only included an apple tart, jelly and meringue-covered crackers, pâté, and a "hygienic pie" which had "apple slices or a pumpkin custard baked in biscuit dough". In 1866, ''Harper's Magazine'' included an article by C.W. Gesner that stated that although we "...cry for pie when we are infants", "Pie kills us finally", as the "heavy crust" cannot be digested. Another factor that decreased the popularity of pies was industrialisation and increasing movement of women into the labour market, which changed pie making from a weekly ritual to an "occasional undertaking" on special occasions. In the 1950s, after WWII, the popularity of pies rebounded in the US, especially with commercial food inventions such as instant pudding mixes, Cool Whip topping, and Jello gelatin (which could be used as fillings) ready-made crusts, which were sold frozen, and alternative crusts made with crushed potato chips. There was a pie renaissance in the 1980s, when old-fashioned pie recipes were rediscovered and a wide range of cross-cultural pies were explored. ==Regional variations==

with beef and vegetables. Meat pies with fillings such as steak, cheese, steak and kidney, beef and ale, lamb and mint, minced beef, or chicken and mushroom are popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand as take-away snacks. They are also served with chips as an alternative to fish and chips at British chip shops. Pot pies with a flaky crust and bottom are also a popular dish, typically with a filling of meat (particularly beef, chicken, or turkey), gravy, and mixed vegetables (potatoes, carrots, and peas). Frozen pot pies are often sold in individual serving size. Fruit pies may be served with a scoop of ice cream, a style known in North America as pie à la mode. Many sweet pies are served this way. Apple pie is a traditional choice, though any pie with sweet fillings may be served à la mode. This combination, and possibly the name as well, is thought to have been popularised in the mid-1890s in the United States. Apple pie can be made with a variety of apples; cultivars such as the Golden Delicious, Pink Lady, Granny Smith, and Rome Beauty are popular for usage in pies. ==In literature==

Cold pigeon pies and venison pasties appear in novels by Jane Austen, but also more generally in writing in the 18th century. The character Mrs Elton, from the 1815 novel Emma, believes herself to be modern, but nevertheless plans to take 'pigeon-pies and cold lamb' to a country outing to Box Hill and consults George Turberville's 1575 work The Noble Art of Venerie (1575) for advice. In the 1817 novel Persuasion, Jane Austen includes pies in her description of an old-fashioned Christmas spread, mentioning 'tressels and trays, bending under the weight of brawn and cold pies'. In the whole of Persuasion, brawn and cold pies are the only specific mention of food; they are also the only Christmas foods to be mentioned in any of Jane Austen's novels. ==In popular culture==

In the United States, a popular idiom is "American as apple pie". More recently, pieing has also become a political act; some activists throw cream pies at politicians and other public figures as a form of protest. ==Types==

Savoury • Bacon and egg pie • Butter pie • Calzone • Cheese and onion pie • Chicago-style pizza • Chicken and mushroom pie • Corned beef pie • Curry pie • Game pie • Fish pie • Flipper pie • Homity pie • Jamaican patty • Kalakukko • Meat pie • Meat and potato pie • Pasty • Pork pie • Pot pie • Quiche • Rabbit pie • Scotch pie • Shepherd's pie • Stargazy pie • Steak pie • Steak and kidney pie • Steak and kidney pudding • Tourtière File:Lamb and chicken pie.jpg|A chicken and lamb pie File:Cornish pasty - cut.jpeg|A traditional Cornish pasty filled with steak and vegetables File:Chickenpie1.JPG|A chicken pie with a traditional pie bird Sweet Some of these pies are pies in name only, such as the Boston cream pie, which is a cake. • Black bottom pie • Buko pie • Bundevara • Cashew pie • Chess pie • Chestnut pie • Chiffon pie • Cream pie • Custard pie • Egg pie • Milk pie • Peanut pie • Pecan pie • Pumpkin pie • Shoofly pie • Sugar pie • Sweet potato pie • Turtle pie • Walnut pie File:Lemon chess pie for pi day, with strawberry, March 2010.jpg|A slice of chess pie File:Pecan pie slice (cropped).jpg|A slice of pecan pie File:Mmm...Mrs Js Perfect Pumpkin Pie (5205060347).jpg|Pumpkin pie showing texture of surface Fruit Many fruit and berry pies are very similar, varying only the fruit used in filling. Fillings for sweet or fruity are often mixed, such as strawberry rhubarb pie. • Apple pie • Banoffee pie – named for the combination of bananas and toffee • Blackberry pie • Blueberry pie • Cherry pie • Key lime pie • Lemon pie • Lemon meringue pie • Mince pie – although formerly made with finely minced meat, it is now made with fruit • Rhubarb pie • Saskatoonberry pie • Strawberry pie Image:Blackberry pie and ice cream, 2006.jpg|Blackberry pie with ice cream File:Raisin pie with lattice crust.JPG|Raisin pie with a lattice-style crust File:Making Pear pie with puff pastry.jpg|Pear-shaped pear pie with puff pastry File:Tarte pruneaux 2.jpg|Jeûne Genevois plum pie Other • Fried pie – a smaller pie that is deep-fried instead of being baked; it can have any filling. • Tart – a pie with no top crust, often filled with fruit ==See also==