Comments on: Pieblogging

By: Jeremy Osner

Jeremy Osner — Mon, 29 Nov 2004 16:30:29 +0000

Oh shit, or maybe it’s cloves instead of allspice. Now I’m not sure. But either way, that essential pumpkin-pie flavor is in there.

By: Jeremy Osner

Jeremy Osner — Mon, 29 Nov 2004 16:27:35 +0000

AGM —allspice is the primary ingredient in garam masala and I believe there is some nutmeg in it as well.

By: Nick Fagerlund

Nick Fagerlund — Sun, 28 Nov 2004 20:37:47 +0000

Call me a purist. Heh... I was waiting for that post. Y'all should see the stuff that goes into the pumpkin pies we bake when there's vegans about. Though Belle's actually looks surprisingly adaptable. Vegan cream cheese (almost indistinguishable), some of that Earth Balance margarine (the only no-trans one I've found to be palatable and meltable), and some flax gloop and you're good to go.

By: hope

hope — Sat, 27 Nov 2004 05:23:59 +0000

Cream cheese? Garam masala? Bourbon? Digestive biscuits? Lime??!! The concoction you served may have been delicious. But it was most emphatically NOT pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie contains pumpkin, condensed milk, spices (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg), egg, sugar, a smidge of salt and a couple tablespoons of flour for texture. Subbing squash for pumpkin is actually OK. All that other stuff – not OK. Call me a purist.

By: David Tiley

David Tiley — Sat, 27 Nov 2004 04:22:44 +0000

Struth! What a lot of replusive pother. And so close to Xmas, when you could be making the pudding and the cake, also featured on this site earlier and in no way intrinsically implausible. Perhaps that is why you like it. All the bits seem so antithetical, but it works. A kind of metaphor for the melting pot.

By: agm

agm — Fri, 26 Nov 2004 23:12:36 +0000

Those who naysay pumpkin pie are elitists smoking some good stuff. For there may indeed be wretched pumpkin pie, but to recognize this is to merely acknowledge that any dish, from sushi on down, can be rendered distasteful by culinary violence. However, my mother’s recipe, which contains no alcohol and gets made for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, is quite excellent. And that characterstic taste is supposed to contain other spices as well (nutmeg, allspice, others I’d need to check the recipe for). That being said, my number one pie is pecan, and I find anything made with sweet potatos (except lightly-herbed fried sweet potato slices) to be quite horrid. I’m thankful that where I come from enough pecans are grown each year that they are a year-round item, not seasonal one!

By: Silent E

Silent E — Fri, 26 Nov 2004 17:42:02 +0000

Huzzah! Ample liquor and spice are essential for a good pie. I’d add the following: egg whites. Julia Child’s recipe calls for a half-dozen fluffy whipped egg whites to be gently folded into the filling immediately prior to filling the crust. The result is very light, with a wonderfully smooth texture.

By: rea

rea — Fri, 26 Nov 2004 14:03:43 +0000

“I do not like it in the west. I do not like it in New York. (I do not like it on my vest. I do not like it with a fork).” You do not like it? So you say! Try it, try it anyway! Try it and you may, I say! (From memory, so perhaps not strictly accurate. The grandkids and I no longer even get the book before reciting the whole story, we know it so well).

By: Anthony

Anthony — Fri, 26 Nov 2004 13:20:54 +0000

OK Belle, I’ll grant that they said it was delicious (and what good guest wouldn’t?) But that they all thought it? That’s a big claim. Well, I dunno. I’ve been told a couple of times that “this is the real pumpkin pie” an still just found it a nutmeggy pile of oversweetened pumpkiny guck. I do not like it in the west. I do not like it in New York. (I do not like it on my vest. I do not like it with a fork). That said, every time I’m offered it I still just eat it up and say yum. It seems the appropriate thing to do.

By: belle waring

belle waring — Fri, 26 Nov 2004 07:49:14 +0000

fightingdem, I scoff at your skeptical attitude! I’m telling you, it was aknowledged to be hella tasty by all! people were tearing up about the American dream and shit! and djw, sweet potato pie is indeed tasty.

By: djw

djw — Fri, 26 Nov 2004 06:39:37 +0000

A properly made pumpkin pie is a glorious thing, but sweet potato pie is better, especially when comparing the cheap-and-easy versions (I’m sure Belle’s pumpkin pie kicks my sweet potato pie’s ass, but I’ll put it up against a mere mortal pumpkin pie any time).

By: johne

johne — Fri, 26 Nov 2004 05:16:55 +0000

In the US, commercial pumpkin pie and canned pie filling (to pour in your own shell, perhaps with the addition of some extra spices) is usually made of other varieties of squash. The commonly available varieties of pumpkin have been bred for shape, color, and how handsome they’ll look as jack-o’lanterns.

By: fightingdem

fightingdem — Fri, 26 Nov 2004 03:46:51 +0000

Got a few complaints, huh?

By: Kieran Healy

Kieran Healy — Fri, 26 Nov 2004 01:31:28 +0000

Of course, it was a totally unorthodox pie actually made of kabocha squash. Aha! An auxiliary hypothesis. I am sure (I mean that literally) the pie was delicious. To be honest, I’ve been known to eat the odd slice of pumpkin pie without choking. I am not a piedealogue. It is merely my Irish, pumkin-less habitus href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitus” rel=”nofollow”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitus that drives my tastes.