Today, March 14 (3/14), is Pi Day, an annual event first celebrated in 1988 because 3, 1, and 4 are the first three digits of the mathematical constant Pi. It is traditional to eat “pie” of every variety on this day, from the one- or two-crust pastry dough with a sweet or savory filling, to the thin- or thick-crust pizza pie topped with whatever sauce, cheese, meat, vegetables, and/or other ingredients one can stomach. Curious about the “storied” history of pie?
The first documented use of the English word “pie” appears in the 1303 records of a Yorkshire priory, possibly related to magpie, a bird that collects assorted things in its nest. However, pie’s origins are ancient. A written recipe for chicken pie from before 2000 BCE was discovered on a Sumerian tablet. Images of early pies, called galettes (flat, free-form crusty cakes of grain mixed with honey), are on the walls of the tomb of Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II, who ruled from 1304 to 1237 BCE. Greeks invented pie “pastry” in the 5th century CE by adding fat to a flour-water mix. Rome’s innovation was “covered” pie to retain the juices of the meat or fish used to stuff it.
The Roman Empire spread pies throughout Northern Europe, where they became a dietary staple of working people. Custard and fruit pies began to appear in the 15th century. Pilgrims brought their pie recipes to North America, adapting them to local game and produce. When Native Americans taught them how to boil down maple syrup, maple became a popular pie sweetener. Successive waves of immigrants brought their own variations — Scandinavian cheese and cream in the Midwest — as did enslaved peoples — molasses from the Caribbean and sweet potatoes from Africa in the South. Pies — notably pigeon and venison — appear often in the novels of Jane Austen. In fact they are the only food mentioned in the Christmas feasts she describes.
Pizza pie has its own history, a long one dating to the flat breads of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. However, the modern pizza pie was born in Naples, Italy. Legend has it that when King Umberto I and Queen Margherita visited Naples in 1889, they were bored with French haute cuisine and asked for an assortment of pizzas from the city’s century-old pizzeria. The variety the queen enjoyed most was topped with soft white cheese, red tomatoes, and green basil, coincidentally the colors of the Italian flag. Thenceforth, that combination was named the Margherita. But pizza pie wasn’t well known outside Italy until the 1940s, when Neapolitan immigrants brought it to the United States. The simple and adaptable aromatic treat soon became a hit in New York and other American cities. Who can forget John Travolta, as Tony Manero, slapping two slices together as he strides through Brooklyn’s pulsing streets?
If you like your pie encrusted in historical fiction, please continue to savor my website. See NOVELS and SHORT STORIES to read about the culinary traditions brought to America by immigrants. Leave a comment. Share your family’s pie and other food favorites.
