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Pie: A Global History QUOTES

Pie: A Global History QUOTES

1 " Pies mean Thanksgiving and Christmas and picnics. "

― , Pie: A Global History

2 " America has developed a pie tradition unequivocally and unapologetically at the sweet end of the scale, and at no time is this better demonstrated than at Thanksgiving. "

― , Pie: A Global History

3 " It could be argued that there is an element of entertainment in every pie, as every pie is inherently a surprise by virtue of its crust. "

― , Pie: A Global History

4 " We have been careless with our pie repertoire. The demise of apple-pear pie with figs and saffron and orengeado pies are tragic losses. "

― , Pie: A Global History

5 " The First Law of Pies: 'No Pastry, No Pie. "

― , Pie: A Global History

6 " The Second Law of Pies: they must be baked, not fried (or boiled, or steamed). "

― , Pie: A Global History

7 " The homemade pie has been under siege for a century, and surely its survival is endangered. "

― , Pie: A Global History

8 " America has developed a pie tradition unequivocally and unapologetically at the sweet end of the scale, and at no time is this better demonstrated than at Thanksgiving in November. It seems that the country goes pie-mad at this time, and the traditional pies reflect that this is harvest season. "

― , Pie: A Global History

9 " Pies such as these - repositories of a week's leftovers - were once so commonplace as to earn their own names. I advise you to have no illusions as to the content of Scrap pies, Saturday pies or Old Maid pies. "

― Janet Clarkson, , Pie: A Global History

10 " Pastry-making, as every amateur baker fears, is as much about technique as ingredients. The rationale behind the well-known advice to keep the hands, implements and kitchen cool while making pastry, to use minimal water and to handle it lightly is obvious, now that we understand the process. Cool handling lengthens the time that the fat in the dough stays solid; using minimum amount of water reduces the gluten content and also allows the dough to be crisper; minimal handling also reduces the gluten, so we do not knead pastry dough as we do bread. "

― , Pie: A Global History

11 " The key is gluten. Gluten is a protein with long, elastic molecules which simultaneously enable the dough to be made stronger (by providing structure) and lighter (by enabling the trapping of air bubbles). A lot of gluten means a firm structure, which is ideal for bread, but bad for pastry. Too little gluten means no structure and no air-trapping, so flat bread and tough pastry. The task of the pastry-cook is to get just the right amount of gluten to make the pastry light and crumbly and flaky. "

― Janet Clarkson, , Pie: A Global History

12 " Wheat is the only grain with a significant amount of gluten, so we have our first clue to the origins of pastry. Superb pastry could only have developed where wheat was grown: rye, barley and oats do not make good pastry, nor do rice or maize or potato starch. "

― Janet Clarkson, , Pie: A Global History

13 " The gluten content of the final wheat dough can be manipulated by the cook in a number of ways depending on the ultimate goal, whether it be sturdy bread or flaky pastry. (...) The first trick is to use exactly the right amount of water, for it is water that activates the gluten in flour. Fat is the second trick, and it helps the texture of pastry in a number of ways. Fat coats little packets of flour, waterproofing them and limiting the amount of water that gets in (less water, so less gluten), and it keeps the gluten strands 'short'. Little smears and gobbets of fat also separate the mini layers of dough, so that they form individual flakes or crumbs, not a solid mass. "

― Janet Clarkson, , Pie: A Global History

14 " Like flours, not all fats are created equal. Oil is fat that is liquid at room temperature but good pastry cannot be made with oil. Flour simply absorbs the oil and the resulting dough is mealy, not tender and flaky. The ideal fat for pastry-making is one with a high melting point because the longer it takes for the fat to melt, the longer it keeps the little parcels of dough separate, generating little packets of steam to puff and lighten the dough. Pig fat (lard) has a high melting point and very little water content, so is ideal on both counts. "

― Janet Clarkson, , Pie: A Global History

15 " Once upon a time, everything baked in an oven that was not bread was 'pie'. "

― Janet Clarkson, , Pie: A Global History

16 " After a few millennia of inspiration, the primitive clay oven gave rise to the gleaming modern steel version. A high-tech oven alone does not, however, turn a bake-mete into a pie as we know it. One more important development was necessary. Pastry had to be invented. "

― Janet Clarkson, , Pie: A Global History

17 " Dough becomes pastry when fat is added. "

― Janet Clarkson, , Pie: A Global History

18 " The city of Gloucester, by ancient custom, presented a lamprey pie to the sovereign at Christmas time, as a token of loyalty. Lampreys are scaleless freshwater sucker-fish resembling eels, desirable in the past for their oily, gamey flesh. The tradition of gifting lamprey pies to the royal family continued until the end of Queen Victoria's reign, but was revived for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 when a 42-pound pie was cooked by the RAF catering crops. "

― Janet Clarkson, , Pie: A Global History

19 " It is hardly surprising that to this day New England is considered to be the pie capital of America, whose inhabitants traditionally eat (sweet) pie for breakfast. Apple pies in particular became deeply embedded in the history of America - associated with the old country, the new country and the pioneering spirit, and indelibly identified with the sense of nationhood and patriotic sentiment. "

― , Pie: A Global History

20 " Surely we should try to save something that, when done well, is not only a supreme example of the art of cooking, but a dish that encapsulates humankind's entire culinary history? "

― , Pie: A Global History