Get in the kitchen and make me some....

I should mention that I am an American currently living in Cambridge, England. I don't generally notice the cultural differences after 3 years, but occasionally there's a breach. Brits don't get the joy of peanut butter. Recently I had a friend ask me about the American obsession with pie. Not all Americans are fascinated with pie... but I love Pie. I have a passion for food, and it got me thinking about pie... and I started ranting in my head. It amused me, so I've kept ranting until I'm satisfied. Then I will have some pie....

Pie is good. the simple, existential existence of pie is good. One does not need to know what is in the pie to determine the black and white goodness of that which is pie. Quality of pie is another matter. Making a horrible pie does less toward making the pie bad, than it does toward making you a bad person. "Why would you do that to a dear and innocent thing like pie?!?" Pie are not squared. pie are round.... unless you bake them in a not-round dish.... Meat pie occasionally happens in a square dish, but that doesn't change the fact that it is pie.

Pie can be sweet or savoury. Pie can be like quiche or like tart. Or like a more traditional, British meat based pie. You could feasibly have pie for starters, mains and pudding and have them all be different except for the shape. you could eat pie every meal for a week or even a month, and still not have the same pie twice. This is the versatility of pie.

If you spoke to an American about pie, you would have them thinking of something sweet- apple pie or cherry pie. But say "pot pie" and you will have eyes light up and chickens dancing in people's minds. Beef is less common in American pot pie. That said, it's not unheard of. Fish pie, on the other hand, is completely foreign. I do mean what I say about dancing chickens. little cartoon ones, wings and drumsticks all jumping into a pie shell with veg and sauce. yum.

Pizza is pie. This makes dessert pizza acceptable, but still odd. Pizza, at least deep dish pizza, is pie largely because it is round and baked in a dish that looks astonishingly like a pie tin. Deep dish pizza is not something you see that often in the UK unless you go to a Pizza Hut, i would imagine. Cheese on toast becomes pie when you make savory bread pudding, with cheese, and bake it in a pie shell. But, is this quality pie? I wouldn't say without having made one myself, but it could be interesting. I can see cheese on toast pie being like white pizza... but then, it could be absolutely disgusting. I'm not in a hurry to try out this recipe.

To sum up, pie starts out good, by virtue of being pie. The chef has the power to ruin the pie, and the chef will go to hell for it. Not the pie. I love pie. yum.