| they have a sweet filling that does not require cooking. These bottom-crust-only pies may be known as tarts or tartlets. An example of a bottom-crust-only pie that is savoury rather than sweet is a quiche. Tarte Tatin is a one-crust fruit pie that is served upside-down, with the crust underneath. Blind-baking is used to develop a crust's crispiness, and keep it from becoming soggy under the burden of a very liquid filling. If the crust of the pie requires much more cooking than the chosen filling, it may also be blind-baked before the filling is added and then only briefly cooked or refrigerated.
Pie fillings range in size from tiny bite-size party pies or small tartlets, to single-serve pies (e.g. a pasty) and larger pies baked in a dish and eaten by the slice. The type of pastry used depends on the filling. It may be either a butter-rich flaky or puff pastry, a sturdy shortcrust pastry, or, in the case of savoury pies, a hot water crust pastry.
Occasionally the term pie is used to refer to otherwise unrelated confections containing a sweet or savoury filling, such as Eskimo pie or moon pie.
Regional variations
Pies with fillings such as pork, steak and kidney, minced beef and onion, or chicken and mushroom are popular in the United Kingdom as take-away snacks. They are also served with chips as an alternative to fish and chips at British chip shops. The residents of Wigan are so renowned for their preference for this food-stuff that they are often referred to as "Pie Eaters" (though the historical reasons for this title are disputed). In honour of this, the main ingredient of a 'Wigan kebab' is the pie, which is placed in a barm cake to make up the locally popular delicacy. Shepherd's pie is also a favourite amongst people throughout Britain.
Pies with sweet fillings may be served with a scoop of ice cream, a style known in North America as à la mode.
The Australian meat pie has an iconic cultural status, being held to be the Australian National Food. These meat pies contain beef and gravy in a shortcrust piecase, often with a flakey top. The many different types of small commercially-produced pies are popular forms of takeaway food in Australia and New Zealand, with one of the most widespread brands in Australia being Four'N Twenty Pie. Many bakeries and specialty stores sell gourmet pies for the more discriminating customer. A peculiarity of Adelaide cuisine is the Pie floater.
History
The pie has been around since the ancient Egyptians from 2000 B.C. At some point between 1400 B.C. (Greek settlements) and 600 B.C. (the decline of Egypt), the pie is believed to have passed on to the Greeks by the Egyptians.
From Greece the pie spread to Rome, somewhere around 100 B.C. by which time pies had already been around for some 1000 years. The first known pie recipe came from the Romans and was for a rye-crusted goat cheese and honey pie.
Pies appeared in England in the 12th century and were predominantly meat pies. The crust of the pie was referred to as the “coffyn” and there was generally more crust than filling. Sometimes these pies were made with fowl and the legs were left outside the pie to act as handles. For a long time the pastry crust was actually not eaten, serving only to preserve the moisture and flavour of the filling.
A French chef named Guillaume Tirel produced a cookery book in the 14th Century that included a recipe for marinated and sautéed eel which was used for the Christian Lent period when it was forbidden to eat meat.
Pies went to America with the first English settlers. As in Roman times the early American pie crusts were not eaten, but simply designed to hold the filling. Today, virtually every country in the world has some form of pie.
Pie in popular culture |
