Pies are as American as pizza: we took a great idea, adapted it to our needs, and ran with it. Piemakers used what they had available locally and made the most from it.  In the Northeast and Midwest, it was apples; in the South it was molasses; Florida produced the key lime pie and the Southwest introduced nut pies. And pies were not always just dessert; our American ancestors considered them survival food and often ate pie for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for six month stretches.  

Join Catherine Lambrecht for a slice of pie history. This history of American pies was originally presented to the Culinary Historians of Chicago’s “Munching Your Way Through the Midwest: Celebrating the History of America’s Food and Foodways.” This symposium introduced the newly published Oxford Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink.

Lambrecht is a founder and moderator of LTHforum.com, the Chicago-based culinary chat site.  She is also a founder of the Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance, which is dedicated to celebrating, exploring, and preserving unique food traditions and their cultural contexts in the American Midwest.  Every month she organizes programs for Chicago Foodways Roundtable of the Culinary Historians of Chicago.  

Recorded Saturday, November 19, 2011 at Lexington College.