- The word may come from magpie, shortened to pie, because a magpie collects a variety of things. That was an essential feature of early pies that contained a variety of ingredients. Some type of pies also figured in early Arab cookery.
- The Oxford English Dictionary traces the first use of the word “pie” as it relates to food to 1303, noting the word was well known and popular by 1362.
- In the Middle Ages, a pie had many ingredients. Fruit pies began to appear in 1600.
- The first pies were simple and generally of the savory (meat and cheese) kind. Flaky pastry fruit-filled turnovers appeared in the early 19th century.
- The filling and baking of sweet (fruits, nuts, cheese) or savory (meat, fish, eggs, cheese) ingredients and spices in casings composed of flour, fat and water are ancient practices that have changed little throughout the ages.
- As a favoured dish of the English, pies were baked in America as soon as the early settlers set up housekeeping on dry land. They used less flour than bread and pies could stretch even the most meager provisions. The crusts were often heavy, composed of some form of rough flour mixed with suet.
Read Also
Manitoba Parkland research station grapples with dry year
Drought conditions in northwestern Manitoba have forced researchers at the Parkland Crop Diversification Foundation to terminate some projects and reseed others.
