|
|
 |
PieA pie is a baked dish, with a baked shell usually made of pastry that covers or completely contains a filling of meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, cheeses, creams, chocolate, custards, nuts, or other sweet or savoury ingredients. Pies can be either "one-crust," where the filling is placed in a dish and covered with a pastry/potato mash top before baking, or "two-crust," with the filling completely enclosed in the pastry shell. Some pies have only a bottom crust, generally if they have a sweet filling that does not require cooking. These bottom-crust-only pies may be known as tarts or tartlets. One example of a savoury bottom-crust-only pie is a quiche. Tarte Tatin is a one-crust fruit pie that is served upside-down, with the crust underneath. Blind-baking is used to develop a crust's crispiness, and keep it from becoming soggy under the burden of a very liquid filling. If the crust of the pie requires much more cooking than the chosen filling, it may also be blind-baked before the filling is added and then only briefly cooked or refrigerated. Pie fillings range in size from tiny bite-size party pies or small tartlets, to single-serve pies (e.g. a pasty) and larger pies baked in a dish and eaten by the slice. The type of pastry used depends on the filling. It may be either a butter-rich flaky or puff pastry, a sturdy shortcrust pastry, or, in the case of savoury pies, a hot water crust pastry. Occasionally the term pie is used to refer to otherwise unrelated confections containing a sweet or savoury filling, such as Eskimo pie or moon pie. Some pies of British origin, such as shepherd's pie, have a shell or covering constructed of mashed potato. Pies with sweet fillings may be served with a scoop of ice cream, in a style known in North America as à la mode. The Australian meat pie, beef and gravy in a shortcrust piecase, often with a flakey top, has an iconic cultural status, being held to be the Australian National Food. The many different types of small commercially-produced pies are popular forms of takeaway food in Australia and New Zealand, with one of the most widespread brands in Australia being Four'N'Twenty. Many bakeries and specialty stores sell gourmet pies for the more discriminating customer. A peculiarity of Adelaide cuisine is the Pie floater. In New Zealand, pie is a common part of a workday lunch. Pies with fillings such as pork, steak and kidney, minced beef and onion, or chicken and mushroom are popular in the UK as take-away snacks. They are also served with chips as an alternative to fish and chips at British chip shops. The residents of Wigan are so renowned for their preference for this food-stuff that they are often referred to as "Pie Eaters" (though the historical reasons for this title are disputed). In honour of this, the main ingredient of a 'Wigan kebab' is the pie, which is placed in a barm cake to make up the locally popular delicacy. Shepherds Pie is also a favourite amongst people in Northern England. Check out the following recipes that are tagged "Pie":
|