--- airs weeknights on SBS Food at 7.00pm and 10.00pm, or stream it free on . Catch the savoury pie episode Thursday 5 August. ---
The Americans are well-documented for the importance they place in pie. It's even used as a barometer to determine whether something is aligned with the entire country's values or not.
However, there's actually been plenty of debate about whether apple pie is even American, let alone 'as American as'. Neither apples nor pie originated in the country and the first known reference to apple pie is from the very English Geoffrey Chaucer in 1381. The Germans would also have come first with , the Greeks their milopita, the French and the Dutch .
Pie is life
Indeed, the pie we find most comforting varies depending on where we are from. "My husband is from Yorkshire and doesn't have a sweet tooth and he would feel more comfort with say a steak and kidney pie because that reminds him of his childhood," says , founder of premium bakery in Sydney's Wooloomooloo. "Whereas I believe apples make the most wholesome pie."
Try these savoury favourites
Green curry pork pie
Nadine Ingram from Flour and Stone says people's favourite pie is "always the Apple and Rhubarb and for savoury the Lamb Potato and Rosemary." Source: Petrina Tinslay
Fat, salt, sugar party
Whichever way you prefer it, pie ticks all the boxes for wholesome comfort food. It's full of the necessary fat and sugar or salt (depending on a predilection for savoury or sweet comfort). Eating foods high in fat, salt or sugar .
As a matter of fact, it's the same reward system that is triggered during drug addiction. Which goes some way to explaining why we 'crave' the solace of pie.
Eating pie is a bit like a choose-your-own-adventure story.
That's not the only reason, though. Thanks to its unique construction, pie also provides a pleasing variety of textures and tastes in the one mouthful.
Eating pie is a bit like a choose-your-own-adventure story where you decide with each bite whether you're going to go to pastry-heavy or lean more towards the filling. Hence every bite is like a small dinner party in your mouth.
The apple and rhubarb pie at Flour and Stone is their best-selling sweet pie. There's just something about an apple pie... Source: Alan Benson
The heart of warmth
There's also the fact that pie is so often served warm from the oven. Pure comfort right there, especially on cold nights.
"A pie is one of the most comforting things to make and eat, especially during the colder months," says , best-selling author of . "Turning humble ingredients into something beautiful is a real joy. There is something extremely comforting about a pie which feels like a warm hug."
Or a cool down on hot days when made with plenty of summer berries and served with a side of ice cream. Basically, pie is good to go any season, any time.
Perhaps pie's most enduring comfort comes not from the pie itself, but from the heart of the baker.
However, perhaps pie's most enduring comfort comes not from the pie itself, but from the heart of the baker. It's simply not possible to bake a pie without loving care. This is why we so often associate a special pie with a special baker.
"My grandmother used to make a pie using a vegetable called gramma," says Ingram. "And when I recently made it at Flour and Stone I had a wave of people contact me saying it took them back to their grandmother's table. It has mixed spice in it which is also a great initiator of those warm and fuzzy memories that evoke such a feeling of safety."
Is it a coincidence that gramma pie is so often baked by grandmas? Source: Alan Benson
It's all about the pastry
It's thought that the origins of pie were all about using up leftover fruit, vegetables or meat. The pleasure of biting into a thick pastry crust presumably hiding produce on the turn. It would also have been a clever way to stretch expensive ingredients like meat and fruit. Flour and water are cheap and who has ever turned away pie that's more pastry than filling? When it comes to pastry, the bigger the better.
"I like to leave the butter quite coarse to encourage big pockets of steam and therefore super flaky pastry." - Julia Busuttil Nishimura
"The base needs careful attention to make sure it is cooked," explains Ingram. "This means you need to make sure the pastry is rolled to a specific thickness to ensure i's browned properly by the end of the baking. Too thick and it will be raw, too thin and you won't have the correct ratio of pastry to filling. Its a careful balance."
Busuttil Nishimura agrees that it's all about the pastry. "I do think homemade pastry makes a big difference to a pie. Make sure all the ingredients such as butter and water are really cold and don’t overwork the butter into the flour too much. I like to leave the butter quite coarse to encourage big pockets of steam and therefore super flaky pastry."
"It feels really homely and is so satisfying to make and eat," says Julia Busuttil Nishimura of her Maltese pumpkin and rice pie. Source: Armelle Habib
Baked nostalgia
That's the thing about pie - it's just as comforting in the baking as it is in the eating. The aroma when the oven is magically transforming ingredients into pie is one that is easily conjured up. It can bring on nostalgia for everything good that has ever been. In fact, so strong is the collective feeling for pie, even the suggestion of a pie baking is .
Pie is rarely something that is eaten alone. It's baked to share with others and often for special celebrations. So shared good times and all the delight that goes with them are soundly attached to pie.
"Pie is not for every day and someone we loved would have made it for us," says Ingram. "I think there is an association with family when a whole pie is cut. The fact that everyone is sharing the same pie is very special."
