In ancient times coffins—one of the earliest names for the pastry cases that would eventually evolve into modern pie crusts—were filled with poultry often with legs all hanging off the sides of the crust. The earliest pies were savoury in nature and the dangling legs apparently made the pies easier to pick up. Think chicken thighs in crust and you’d be right. And while it’s true that the Britons who gave us words like “coffyn” and “pyes” enjoyed savoury meat pies it’s thought that it was actually the ancient Egyptians who introduced the earliest forerunners of pies to the world in 6000 BC. It seems that the ancients in many cultures enjoyed umami-flavoured pies although sweet pies also appeared on tables in early times.
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Cakes all over the world
It was the Greeks who are given credit for inventing pie crusts which to them involved mixing a little flour with water and fat. If that sounds rather tasteless to you you’re right. Taste played no part in the early comparisons of pie crusts. They were the dish in which the meat was served as well as a place to store it and were often more similar to earthenware in consistency than the flaky pie crusts of today. In light of this it only made sense that British pie crusts had names like “coffyn” and while “coffyn” became the modern word “coffin” at the time it simply meant a box or basket.
Ancient pie makers packed their pies with protein to give their guests something to actually chew on. Lamb beef magpie pigeon and duck all made an appearance in the pies of the ancient English who had the good sense to also add dates and currants and pepper to spice them up and add extra flavour. The ancient Romans brought their love of seafood with them and it was not uncommon to open a Roman pie and find lamprey oysters or mussels inside but goats cheese and honey were also not out of the question.
As for early Americans the pumpkin pies that have become synonymous with Thanksgiving were probably not yet in vogue at least not on that very first holiday. Fortunately for modern pie lovers in the United States a number of beloved traditions did cross the pond with early settlers making sure that all the best types of savory pie recipes made it into the proverbial recipe box. As a result it’s more likely that the early Pilgrims also made savory pies filled with meats like venison or various types of poultry and seasonings like cinnamon nutmeg pepper and dried fruit making their pies a cross between fruitcake and pot pie so to speak. And English pies certainly had a positive side. Shepherd’s pie and cottage pie were among their early pie recipes although pumpkin pie was not.
