The English are, and always have been, the most enthusiastic and imaginative maker of pies (and have even put live birds, animals, people and whole bands into them), but it is a food type we all eat in one form or another. The Cornish in particular have endless types of pies and there is a Cornish saying that the devil will never go to Cornwall because he's afraid he might be baked into a pie.
Though initially quite a simple idea any attempt to quickly explain what a 'pie' is can land you world of contradictions. An obvious definition might be 'a baked filling surrounded by a pastry crust', with the filling being savoury or sweet, and with no limit to what you can put in it (or what you can have sticking out from it). But the word 'pie' is sometimes also applied to a baked dish which is lined with pastry, but not covered, and though technically correct I consider this application of the word to be mildly fraudulent. In such cases the term 'open pie' is less likely to cause distress, or you can use 'tart', an older term. And what about a dish of something with a pie crust lid? And what about 'cottage pie'? For more pie ramblings click the archive button.
Micro-waved stew, in a bowl, with a piece of tasteless pastry obviously floated on top, just before it leaves the kitchen of a pub or restaurant, like a deserted life raft, is laughingly called a pie by those without skill, pride or sense of tradition. A pie comes from an oven. If it comes from anywhere else then it's not a pie (e.g. box, microwave, freezer, France).
Pies were once 'Pyes' in England.
Pies have long been the favoured 'terrace' food at sports events.
Alt: It is possible to have your pie in the sky which means that you are hoping or planning for the impossible.
And according to Mary Poppins you might make a 'pie crust promise' which is "easily made, and easily broken!"
English nursery rhyme (or non rhyme):
Simple Simon met a pieman going to the fair;
Said Simple Simon to the pieman "Let me taste your ware"
Said the pieman to Simple Simon "Show me first your penny"
Said Simple Simon to the pieman "Sir, I have not any!"
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But I can clear this up with a history lesson and with some older terminology. Continue reading to become a pie nerd (why should I be the only one?).
Old terminology
Pies came in two forms and fully enclosed pies were known as ‘coffin’ pies or ‘coffyn’ (in their original spelling), because they had a lid. Open pies were called ‘traps’. The terminology for types of ‘open pies’, or ‘traps’ continues to become more technical. Large, shallow open pies were called tarts, a word we still use today but which we tend to use with sweet dishes (e.g. Manchester tart, curd tart), though we have a natural tendency to avoid ‘the word ‘tart’ because we think it’s a bit poncy, and people with no fear of this affliction may even go on to call them ‘tortes’ which is a French word. And little open pies were called ‘tartlets’ a term still heard now and then, often on posher menus, but unlikely to be spoken in common English without a self conscious smirk. So pies originally fell into one of four categories:
fully enclosed = coffin or coffyn
open topped = trap
large, shallow open top = tart
small, shallow open top = tartlet
Therfore an egg and bacon pie or a lemon meringue pie are actually tarts, as is a shallow custard pie. But a deep custard pie is technically a custard ‘trap’. So perhaps we could say that a pie is something inside a pastry crust. But then how do you explain the ‘cottage’, ‘shepherd’s’ and fish pies which don’t have a pastry crust at all. My advice to you would be not try and explain it to anyone and just be thankful you were born here, though I do think the term ‘coffyn’, for fully enclosed pies, could easily, and happily be revived.
Pie accessories and customs
Deep pies used to be baked with a ‘pie funnel’ in the middle, to hold up the crust and to let out the steam. This practice gave rise to interesting family pie funnels, handed down from mother to daughter, which in our case was a white elephant whose trunk was held high allowing the steam to escape. You never see pie funnels now.
