The sweetest pie of all...

Image from Google Images

As I have mentioned previously, the mixture of sweet and savoury that Ayrton describes in the opening to her chapter on 'Pies', is something that I personally struggle to enjoy. I wanted to explore how a pie can transgress from being "[...] a splendidly convenient way of eating meat in gravy [...]" (85) to being a sweet dish which contains abundances of sugar and syrup. With the apple pies being an American recipe, like other American traditions it wasn't long before the recipe had reached England. Wikipedia claims, the pie was "first referenced in the year 1589, in Menaphon by poet R. Greene: "thy breath is like the steeme of apple pies". With the pie being a worldwide dish, this spin on the savoury option proved popular in the years to follow. There are numerous recipe's for sweet pies in Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, (1861) Beeton claims in the opening to her chapter on 'General Observations on Pudding and Pastry', that "[a]lthough from puddings to pastry is a big step, it requires a higher degree of art to make one than to make the other" (259). Beeton follows this observation by claiming that, " [...] the next step was to inclose cream, fruit, and marmalade's; and the next, to build pyramids and castles; when the summit of the art of the pastry-cook may be supposed to have been achieved" (259). 

image from Google Images

From Beeton's language it is evident that during the nineteenth century the creation of the sweet pie was considered to be an art. At the end of the quote above, there is a sense of sarcasm in Beeton's tone. With her manual addressing everything from the way in which women behave, run their household and organize parties there is a sense in her tone that with the fruit pies comes a new expectation for cooks; the peas pudding pie will no longer be good enough. This cultural shift into Americanized sweet pies boomed in the 1950's with the rise of advertising and Britain's attempt at creating the great housewife. Significantly, in 1968 McDonald's released their fried apple pie into their chain of fast food restaurants. Not only does the pie become sweet at this point, but it becomes significantly unhealthy. This concept is something that interests me greatly as it is something that I struggled to comprehend whilst considering pie, mash and liquor as a fast food. To me, this Americanized version of a British favourite is the pinnacle of what fast food is. It is fried, overly sweet and extremely unhealthy. It is through McDonald's creation of the fried pie that I was really able to see the shift that pies had taken in the Western world. Pies were longer a means of eating meat and gravy without a fork, but pies were experimental dishes which could switch from savoury too sweet with the incorporation of fruit and sugar. 

Throughout this blog, I have looked at the works of Beeton, Ayrton, White and Hartley and the fruit pie is evident in all of their recipe books. In Household Management Beeton goes as far as detailing the methods needed to make these different types of pastry. Through the layout of both Beeton and Dorothy Hartley's books it becomes apparent that the details a woman's working day is far more important than giving any recipes. For example, Dorothy Hartley writes, "First in the morning when thou art waked and purporest to ryse, lyft up thy hands and thee and make a sign of holy cross [...]" (308). From Hartley’s language is becomes ever more apparent that in order to be a cook, one must be a good woman. The reason I have chosen to explore Hartley's views alongside my discussion of the sweet pie, is to present the differences in the female cook from Hartley's writing, in comparison to the 1950's poster which is attached above. Indeed, during the 40's and 50's cooking was considered as fashionable and a woman's duty. Whereas the view that Hartley creates in the opening to her book is that in order to be a good cook, one must first be a holy woman. It is through the layout of these traditional cookbooks and through the mixture of both sweet and savoury that I would suggest that the true essence of a pie has been lost. 

Whilst exploring the transition from the sweet to the savoury pie, I decided that I would follow one of my grandmother's apple pie recipes. It wasn't until I spoke to my mum and told her that I was creating this blog, did she talk me through what I needed to do. For some reason, I was told that I wasn't allowed to upload the recipe, I think it is some sort of secret. Growing up, my mum always made apple pies and cherry pies, but as I have made clear, I don't like sweet pies so it's something that I have never really focused on. But nevertheless, I decided that I would make the pie and see if I could change my own opinion on the over rated sweet pie. 

Here are the steps I took in order to create the pie... 

I began by peeling and
coring cooking apples

Once the apples were peeled
I left them in water so that they
wouldn't brown 

         

I added butter, flour and
baking soda to a bowl and
began needing it by hand
to form a dough

Once the pastry was kneaded
I formed a ball ready to roll  

I began to roll out the pastry
so that it was big enough to cover
the dish

I laid the pastry over
the rolling pin
and rolled the pastry
over the dish to form
the bottom pastry. This method
had to be repeated twice in
order to make the top and bottom
pastry

Once the dish was covered
I pushed it firmly, ensuring
that all of the sides were sealed

My focus then shifted to cooking
the apples, I placed them on a
hot ring and added a small amount water
along with Caster sugar to caramelize
the apples

I then evenly laid the apples
over the base of the pie

I placed lines of pastry
over the pie to make the pie look nice
and egg washed the pastry, I then
placed the pie in the oven to cook

After much hard work, this was my end result: 

Seeing as I had worked hard to create the pie, I thought I had to taste it. Even after cooking the pie and it smelling amazing, I just didn't like it. What I'm learning about myself through the scope of this blog is that I don't like change. I don't like the sweet pie, for me a pie should be wholesome, meaty and filled with rich gravy. Not sticky, sweet and filled with caramelized apples. 



Works Cited:

Ayrton, Elisabeth. The Cookery of England. 1974. Andre Duetsch Limited. BAS Printers Limited. London. Print.

Beeton, Mrs. Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management. Oxford World Classics. Great Britain. 1861. Print. 

Wikpedia. ‘Apple Pie’. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_pie. Web. 01/04/2015