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Filthy casual pies!

I’m definitely gonna have to check out my local Butchers. They’re often a prime source of fresh, or least hand made and frozen, pies.

Where I used to live, the Butcher near me did or at least stocked truly amazing pies. Full of filling with gravy to die for.

And hey, it’s supporting small local businesses, which is always a win for me.

 Nevelon wrote:
Well those might the the rules for competitive British pies, but there are other pies being eaten across the world! And more casual pies!

Most of that definition I can get behind, but no lattice tops? I get that you can’t just slap a strip of dough on a tart and call it a pie, but a good latice is a work of art.

If the Great British bakeoff has taught me anything about Great Britain, it's that they are serious about baked goods. We shouldn't question it.

chaos0xomega wrote:

 Nevelon wrote:
Well those might the the rules for competitive British pies, but there are other pies being eaten across the world! And more casual pies!

Most of that definition I can get behind, but no lattice tops? I get that you can’t just slap a strip of dough on a tart and call it a pie, but a good latice is a work of art.

If the Great British bakeoff has taught me anything about Great Britain, it's that they are serious about baked goods. We shouldn't question it.

That’s fair. And I do love that show.

Pretty much everyone has food based quirks. They want to draw the battle-lines over pies, that’s fine. We do similar things over here with BBQ, chilli, pizza, and plenty of other things.

But come late November, you tell someone here that a pumpkin pie is not a pie, you are going to be beaten to death with a turkey leg. (Although apple is the superior thanksgiving pie IMHO)

Pecan pie is the one pie to ruke them all of Turkeyday.

chaos0xomega wrote:
Pecan pie is the one pie to ruke them all of Turkeyday.

I acknowledge that as a valid choice and a contender for the throne, but respectfully disagree.

I spent too many formative years too far north to really enjoy pecan pies. Never had one until I moved to Louisville. By then my pie-oritys were pretty much set.

 Nevelon wrote:

chaos0xomega wrote:
Pecan pie is the one pie to ruke them all of Turkeyday.

I acknowledge that as a valid choice and a contender for the throne, but respectfully disagree.

I spent too many formative years too far north to really enjoy pecan pies. Never had one until I moved to Louisville. By then my pie-oritys were pretty much set.

I like pecan pie, but it's just so rich usually that I can only eat a small slice at a time. Apple pie is also a solid choice and like you said earlier it's probably best when made with Granny Smith apples. If we're talking about holiday pies here, let me just say that I think pumpkin pie is one of the most overrated desserts ever. I don't hate it, I suppose, but it is pretty low on my preferences list.

I think I would be open to accepting sweet pies, provided they’re of North American fame/origin.

This is because just as language drifts, so do food definitions. And they do look very tasty.

chaos0xomega wrote:
If the Great British bakeoff has taught me anything about Great Britain, it's that they are serious about baked goods. We shouldn't question it.

They're serious about a lot of foodstuffs. Remember that thing with the wasted tea?

 Nevelon wrote:

chaos0xomega wrote:
Pecan pie is the one pie to ruke them all of Turkeyday.

I acknowledge that as a valid choice and a contender for the throne, but respectfully disagree.

I spent too many formative years too far north to really enjoy pecan pies. Never had one until I moved to Louisville. By then my pie-oritys were pretty much set.

Bro, I'm from Jersey. No such thing as being too far north to appreciate pecan pie.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I think I would be open to accepting sweet pies, provided they’re of North American fame/origin.

This is because just as language drifts, so do food definitions. And they do look very tasty.

Never occurred to me that new world pies are sweet and old world pies are savory.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

chaos0xomega wrote:
If the Great British bakeoff has taught me anything about Great Britain, it's that they are serious about baked goods. We shouldn't question it.

They're serious about a lot of foodstuffs. Remember that thing with the wasted tea?

Lol

They aren't? Apple pie is common here too. Common in Poland too for that matter, I am partial to szarlotka.

It’s more a predominance thing.

In the UK, it’s mainly savoury pies. Steak, Steak and Kidney, Pork, Chicken and Mushroom, Venison, Game etc etc.

In the US? It’s mainly sweet.

I’m no food historian, but it could be do with cultural drift. The US seems to be known more for Prime Cuts, thanks to their strong farming industry providing plenty of it.

The UK? Pies are typically for cheaper cuts and offal. Stuff which you need to low and slow to get the most out of it, and when done right is amazing and tastier than any Prime Cut, because that was more readily available.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
In fact, I was watching a YouTuber (I think it was Townsends, might’ve been Max Millar. Both of which are fantastic channels!), and Pumpkin Pie became popular because Pumpkins can be safely stored super easily, so in the early days, they were a reliable winter veg, and Pumpkin Pie was an easy way to prepare them. Will see if I can find it.

Here we go!

Apples can also be stored really easily

 Haighus wrote:
They aren't? Apple pie is common here too. Common in Poland too for that matter, I am partial to szarlotka.

Apple pie is American, y'all just stole it from us.

So American?

The 14th century recipe collection the Forme of Cury gives a recipe including good apples, good spices, figs, raisins and pears in a cofyn, a casing of pastry. Saffron colours the filling.[13]

It was invented before your country was invented

Theres no figs, raisins, or pears in an apple pie. Different recipe.

Don’t worry. We had 300 years or so to remove the good stuff


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Of course, eating the casing wasn’t always done. I don’t know when it began, but I do know in medieval times the crust or coffin was just for the cooking and serving, forming a dish, without being part of the meal.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
In fact? https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zmtn2sg#

Well thats actually fascinating. Learned me a thing today.

So no-one else is going to acknowledge Nevelon's "Pie-orities" line???!?!!?!!

Pie crusts off to you, sir

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Don’t worry. We had 300 years or so to remove the good stuff

I like Dave Barry's version of British history: to ward off invaders like the Vikings, they resorted to relentlessly bland food, a tradition they maintain to this day, despite numerous armed French attempts to invade with sauces.

The American diet is preponderantly German. Indeed, much of American DNA is German as well, but due to a couple of unpleasant episodes, this was downplayed and people dropped the language, the ethnic newspapers vanished, etc.

But just about everything Americans think of as "theirs" is German: hamburgers, hot dogs, beer, fried potatoes, potato salad, fried chicken - we all know where it came from. When I was in the Rhineland, I asked for their local specialty and I got breaded pork jobs with mushroom sauce, aka Jagerschnitzel. I laugh every 4th of July when we fly the flag and eat Brats and drink Pilsner. Maybe munch on some pretzels while I'm at it.

So our approach to pies and baking is also very similar to the Germans'.

Pie is a dish wrapped in pastry.

I don't eat meat, but when I did I was very keen on Chicken & Mushroom pie, Steak & Kidney pie, Beef & Ale pie, Cornish pasty, Game pie, Pork pie.

Now I mainly eat Cheese & Onion, Butter Pies, and Vegetable pies, but not much taste for pies here in Ireland sadly. Unlike my native North England, where you'll find a Greggs on every street corner.

 stonehorse wrote:
Pie is a dish wrapped in pastry.

I don't eat meat, but when I did I was very keen on Chicken & Mushroom pie, Steak & Kidney pie, Beef & Ale pie, Cornishe pasty, Game pie, Pork pie.

Now I mainly eat Cheese & Onion, Butter Pies, and Vegetable pies, but not much taste for pies here in Ireland sadly. Unlike my native North England, where you'll find a Greggs on every street corner.

My sense of it is that Irish cuisine is even less flavorful than that of the English. If that's possible. At least the Welsh have a thing for leeks.

Really, pies are a great answer to the ancient problem: "How can I cram enough carbs and protein into my gut to avoid starvation?"

I'm a huge fan of pasties, and I'm looking forward to have a few as the temperature drops and running the oven isn't an affront to the a/c but a nice boost to my furnace.

But I think it's clear that the British reliance on pies is at variance with the German preference for potatoes, pretzels and sausages. So much sausage.

Bringing the potato to Europe had some pretty signficant cultural consequences, no?

I think pies are more an answer to “how do I stop all this nice food falling on the floor”.

As MDK indicated from his link the originslmoies, the casing was t really there to be eaten. Like with pasties and the big ridge. Handy thing for filthy hands to hold that then Gets discarded when the clean bits are all gone.

 Flinty wrote:
I think pies are more an answer to “how do I stop all this nice food falling on the floor”.

As MDK indicated from his link the originslmoies, the casing was t really there to be eaten. Like with pasties and the big ridge. Handy thing for filthy hands to hold that then Gets discarded when the clean bits are all gone.

I disagree. No one throws away edible food unless they have lots of it. In times of plenty, sure, the upper class would discard the casing. But that's some solid carbs right there, and subsistence farmers waste nothing.

To put it another way: I have always been very particular about food. A "picky eater," if you will.

Then I joined the Army, and learned the price of turning your nose up at an otherwise perfectly good meal. Hunger is the best seasoning.

Originally crusts were super thick, and apparently based on historical recreations of recipes, not that appetising.

However. These was the same age when your plate was a trencher, a thick slice of bread.

At the end of meal, trenchers are said in historical records to have been given to the poor. And it’s thought that as you said “waste not, want not”, someone would’ve made the casing their dinner

You can eat lots of things that are not, strictly, food.

 stonehorse wrote:
Pie is a dish wrapped in pastry.

I don't eat meat, but when I did I was very keen on Chicken & Mushroom pie, Steak & Kidney pie, Beef & Ale pie, Cornish pasty, Game pie, Pork pie.

Now I mainly eat Cheese & Onion, Butter Pies, and Vegetable pies, but not much taste for pies here in Ireland sadly. Unlike my native North England, where you'll find a Greggs on every street corner.

...butter pies?

chaos0xomega wrote:
...butter pies?

Well, the butter wouldn't melt, so I put it in the pie.

More on topic, I like to make meat pies because they are filling and easy. Frozen pie crusts are cheap and available and it's pretty quick and easy to throw canned meat into it with some canned potatoes, seasoning, random veg and toss it in the oven.

Faster than the frozen pot pies as well.

chaos0xomega wrote:

 stonehorse wrote:
Pie is a dish wrapped in pastry.

I don't eat meat, but when I did I was very keen on Chicken & Mushroom pie, Steak & Kidney pie, Beef & Ale pie, Cornish pasty, Game pie, Pork pie.

Now I mainly eat Cheese & Onion, Butter Pies, and Vegetable pies, but not much taste for pies here in Ireland sadly. Unlike my native North England, where you'll find a Greggs on every street corner.

...butter pies?

The only good thing to come out of Lancashire.

Butter pie is made with a hearty filling of freshly peeled potatoes mixed with onions, mild cheddar cheese and rich butter. Seasoned simply with salt and pepper.

Commissar von Toussaint wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
I think pies are more an answer to “how do I stop all this nice food falling on the floor”.

As MDK indicated from his link the originslmoies, the casing was t really there to be eaten. Like with pasties and the big ridge. Handy thing for filthy hands to hold that then Gets discarded when the clean bits are all gone.

I disagree. No one throws away edible food unless they have lots of it. In times of plenty, sure, the upper class would discard the casing. But that's some solid carbs right there, and subsistence farmers waste nothing.

To put it another way: I have always been very particular about food. A "picky eater," if you will.

Then I joined the Army, and learned the price of turning your nose up at an otherwise perfectly good meal. Hunger is the best seasoning.

That was how Cornish Pasties originated. They were eaten by Cornish tin miners, who would use the thick pastry seam down the side as a handle so they didn't touch the rest of the food with hands covered with toxic tin compounds. They would eat the rest of the pasty and throw the seam away.