PIES HAVE been a Cana-
dian tradition for genera-
tions.

However, it may come as a
surprise to learn that pies are not
only from Canada’s European
roots — almost every culture
throughout history has enjoyed
pies.

Pastry doughs are descendants
of the primitive grain and water
pastes that served as food staples
10,000 years ago.

The evolution of these crude
pastes into delicate confections
really began when Egyptian
bakeries sold a variety of sweets
made from grain meal and
sweetened with fruits, Loney and
Spice.

While some of the unleavened
breads mentioned in the Bible
could be classified as pies, pie as
we know it actually dates from the
Roman empire.

Although his recipes leave
something to be desired in exact-
ness, the cookbook of the tegend-
ary gourmet Marcus Gavius
Apacius reveals that pies were
savory as well as sweet and huge
two and three-crust pies were
common.

As the Roman empire spread,
so did their love of anything
under a crust. Pie-making
flourished in all the lands the
conquerers Gccupied.

{n fact, the English pie heritage
can be traced to William the
Conqueror who brought along his
Norman-French staff when he
crossed the English Channel in
1066.

The Normans were great pie
bakers. although their favorite ecl
pie described in a 1390 cookbook,
written by the chefs of King
Richard HI, might not appeal to
many today.

Only seasonings and methods of
preparation differentiate our apple
pie from the tarte tatin native to
Normandy. The Normans started
the custom of sending a pie to the
king for Christmas.

Pies were often used to pay
rent. The sheriff of Norwich held
30 acres of land in return for 24
herring pasties, each containing
120 fish.

The “four and 20 blackbirds
baked in a pie’’ from the old
nursery rhyme was, in fact, a
popular form of culinary enter-
tainment from the Middle Ages to
the Renaissance.

At large banquets, a crust was
baked and then placed over 2 dish
of live birds. When the birds fiew

ar

The | evolution of pies

ubmitted

SOUR CREAM Pumpkin Pie - each culture seems to have a favorite - the British have their Cornish
pasties and small meat pies known as whists, the Mexicans and South Americans have their em-
panadas, the French have their tarts...

out, the men released their falcons
to bring them down. Incredibly,
pies were iarge enougk to enclose
live rabbits, dwarves and even a
28-piece orchestra!

What we call an open-faced pie
— implying a -ingle crust — has
been a tart in France since the day
the first trade union of pastry
chefs was established in Paris at
the end of the 13th century.

In 1655, a chef of La Varenne
in France wrote the first
cookbook that gave careful iz-
structions for the ingredient
measurement and temperature
control during the baking of
pastries.

The pilgrims brought the
English tradition of pie baking
and the basic way in which we
make crust across the Atlantic.
They adapted the recipes and
techniques to the ingredients
found on North -simerican soil.

Today we knew that pies make

the most of all types of ingre-
dients, turning the dullest meat or
plainest fruit into a special treat.
Each culture secms to have a
favorite — the British have their
Cornish pasties and smali meat
pies known as whists, the Mex-
icans and South Americans have

_ their empanadas, the French have

their rarts and we have our pump-
kin pies.

So take a pege from the history
books and start baking. Once
you’ve mastered the basics oi
pastry making, you can experi-
ment with your own different in-
gredients and individual ideas.

To get you started, here is a
basic pie pastry recipe, followed
by an elegant variation of pump-
kin pie.

Pie Pastry

Makes one 9’’ double-crust pie
ar two single 9°’ pie shells.
2 c. all-purpose flour
¥% tsp. salt

Debunking six persisten

Inquisitive
Cook

su

GARDINER WILSON

HALLOWEEN IS laden
with myths and legends. So
too is the world of food.

We have fun with the magic of
Halloween. But cooking is more
science than sorcery. Let's debunk
six persistent myths and find out
what really happens.

Myth - You don’t need to scald
milk if you’re niaking yeastbread:

That’s a leftover trom the days
of unpasteurized tmilk: unscalded
milk can produce a dough which
is slack, sticky and difficult to
knead.

Scalding, which heats watk to
198 degrees F (92 C), destroys an
enzyme which softens wheat pro-
tein. Pasteurization, which heats
the milk to 162 degrees F (72 C),

kills bacteria, but isn’t sufficient
to kill this particular enzyme.

So scalding is still important
and these days, it’s accomplished
quickly in a microwave oven.

Myth ~ You can't overbeat egg
whites:

Oh yes you can. Beating air into
egg whites is likc blowing up a
balloon. Each bubble can only be
stretched so far and then it
breaks.

Overbeaten egg whites look dry
and curdled. Beat jusi to the poinr
where the whites stand ir soft or
stiff peaks.

The gradual addition of fine
sugar (2 tbsp. for soft meringues,
4 tbsp. for hard) after the whites
have been beaten to the foamy
Stage maxes them more difficult
to Gverbeat. So does adding ercam

1c. shortening
4 tbsp. ice water

i. Combine flour and salt in
mixing bowl. Measure ingredients
accurately. Cut room temperature
shortening into ficur with pastry
blender or two knives until mix-
ture is uniform and _ resembles
large peas. Overniixing lends to
tough pastry.

2. Sprinkle with ice water, o«e
spoonful at 4 time, mixing lightiy
with a fork. Add just enough
water to form dough into a firm
ball with a minimum of handling.
Chill 15 to 30 minutes for easier
Tolling.

3. Divide dough in half and
shape each into a ball. On a
floured surface, flatten ball into a
circle by pressing with palm of
hand across both directions.

4. Roll dough to a uniform
thickness in spoke fashion from
centre to edge with light, even
strokes. Reshape circle with your

hands as you work. If dough
sticks, dust lightly with flour.
Overworking and too much flour
will toughen pastry.

5. For easy transfer to pie plate,
stide spatula under dough to
loosen it, then lift one edge of
pastry onto pin and loosely wrap
it around pin. Loosely unwrap
pastry into pie plate.

6. Ease pastry into pie plate. Do
not stretch the dough or it will
shrink during baking. To repair
tears, moisten edges and press
together.

7. Trim dough %”’ beyond the
edge of pan. For single shell, fold
under and fiute edge. For double
crust, fold top crust under bottom
crust, seal and flute edge. Prick
top crust. Bake as directed.

Baking

Double crust: Prick top crust.
Bake at 425°F for 40 to 50
minutes or as directed in filling
recipe.

Baked shell: (Lemon, cream.)
Prick dough with fork. Bake at
425°F for 12 to 15 minutes. Cool
then fill er proceed as directed in
filling recipe.

Unbaked shell:(Custard, pump-
kin, quiche.) Do not prick
dough. Fill and bake at 450°F for
10 minutes then at 350°F for 30 to
40 minutes or as directed in filling
recipe.

Sour Cream
Pumpkin Pie
A surprise layer of nuts under
the pumpkin and an attractive
decoration on top makes this a
good choice for your next com-
pany dinner.

3 eggs

1c. lightly packed brown sugar
1 14-02. can pumpkin

1c. sour cream

1 tsp. cinnamon

4 tsp. allspice

% tsp. salt

¥% c. finely chop ved pecans
12-15 gecan halves

1 unbaked pie crust ‘

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Prepare pie shell in 9”
plate. Set aside.

Beat eggs and Srsva sugar until
blended. Stir in pumpkin, sour
cream, spices and salt. Mix weil.

Sprinkle nuts cver pie shell.
Pour pumpkin mixture over nuts.

Bake at 375°F on lower oven
rack for 35 to 40 minutes. Deco-
tate top with pecan halves. Bake
five to 10 minutes longer, or just
until filling is set.

Filling

pie

kitchen myths

of tartar (1/16th tsp. per white).

Myth .- Browning meat before
cooking seals in juices:

Actually, browning creates fla-
vor, but recent experiments show
that searing does not reduce the
loss of juice.

Myth - The best place to store
bread is in the refrieerator:

No. In most cases bread actual-
ly stales fastest at refrigerator
temperatures, thongh low
temperatures do slow the growth
of mold in very moist breads.

The best place for long term
Storage is the freezer. For 2 few
days, an airtight plastic bag at
room temperature.

Myth - If you reduce sugar in
cookies or cakes, the only dif-
ference is they aren’t as sweet:

Sugar does more than

just

sweeten. It bonds with water,
helds moisture and keeps cookies
from Jrying out. Reducing sugar
may mean cookies stale faster.

Sugar also attracts moisture
faster than flour. This means
there’s less moisture available tc
form gluten.

Myth - ft’s unsafe to refreeze
food:

The issue here is one of quality
rather thar. safety. Ideally, thawed
food is not refrozen, since it
deteriorates in texture and flavor.

Providing the food has beer
handled safely, however, and his
not been left at room temperature
for prolonged periods, its safety
shouldn't be an issuc.

A necklace of garlic huids vam-
Pires at bay. This one has never
been proven. Try it on Thursday,