The United States disagrees with what the best Thanksgiving side dish is. Is it mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, or mac n’ cheese? I like all of them, but none are my favorite. In truth, the best side dish is dessert, especially pie, and I don’t think that Thanksgiving would be complete without it. I’m not the only one, either, as Thanksgiving was actually postponed for a week in 1705 because there wasn’t enough molasses to make pumpkin pie! Most people know the history behind the holiday, so I thought I would share a slice of history about my favorite side dish at Thanksgiving dinner.
Pie is currently very American, but it has actually outlived Rome. Early pies were only made for the filling, and the crust, or “coffyn,” was not made for eating. Gradually, the coffin became acceptable to eat as meat pies swept Europe in the twelfth century. Then, pastries and tarts with edible crusts had their rise in the 1500s. The phrase “as American as apple pie” is actually false, as apple pie and even cherry pie (which was first made for Queen Elizabeth I) are very much English innovations. However, ever since the first colonists brought pie over the pond, Americans have been making the dish their own with great fervor and pride.
Did you know that one of the first produce items Europeans brought back from the “New World” were pumpkins? The English and French made use of them immediately. However, some early pumpkin pies didn’t even have crust, and some were just hollowed pumpkins that were stewed with milk and honey. It wasn’t until about a century and a half after the Native Americans gifted Europeans the pumpkin that a pumpkin pie recipe, in the first American cookbook no less, appeared in writing. When Thanksgiving was made a national holiday in 1863, the south took this move as the north imposing their Yankee practices on them. The north took advantage of this and included Thanksgiving traditions, namely pumpkin pie, in abolitionist papers, books, and poems. After the Civil War, this holiday spread far and wide (as did the pie). The American tradition of putting pumpkin in pie was officially sealed in the 1920s when Libby’s, originally a meat cannery, started canning pumpkin and releasing it for the masses. Now, Libby’s pumpkin line is a staple around the holidays, and they even print a pumpkin pie recipe on the label.
Blueberry pie has its roots in Native American culture, where they dried blueberries and mashed them into a pudding-like mixture called Sautauthig. The first Thanksgiving meal featured a variant of the Sautauthig, but the Pilgrims put butter and sugar in it. They were on to something. The pudding dish was finally put into a crust in the early 1800s, and the first time it was referred to as blueberry pie was in 1829, but not actually published as a recipe until 1850. Later during the Civil War, Union troops were sold canned blueberries from New England canneries, and the berries were such a hit that the soldiers took them home. As Maine was the primary producer of wild blueberries, most had not enjoyed this fruit until then, but after the 1860s, there was a new demand for everything blueberry, including pie!
Another Native American harvest, the pecan, was also introduced to baking after the Civil War. Especially in Georgia, pecan trees began sprouting up by the dozens, and soon, pecan dessert recipes were printed in cookbooks. Texas has the claim to fame on pecan pies, however, the first pie that resembles the one we know today was crafted by a Texas woman who sent it to St. Louis to be published. Soon after, Karo syrup began its boom in the 1920s and the label on the bottle had a recipe for-you guessed it-pecan pie. Simple to make, easy to bake, the pecan pie has been a staple for sweet tooths since the nineteenth century.
Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends, and food, as well as remembering the roots of what makes this holiday season so special. This country has a lot of history, and we can recognize that in something as simple as pie! I always enjoy Thanksgiving, but I think it will be a little more fun this year to share a slice of history with my family while sharing a slice of pie. Pumpkin, apple, or pecan- it doesn’t matter to me as long as it’s served with a generous scoop of whipped cream!