Issues → January/February 2012 → Food →
The Guide Food: The Coziness of a Savory Pie
These winter treats are homey, but hardly humble.
by Amy Traverso
How's this for comfort food: Take your favorite ingredients and wrap them up in a delectable crust. It's the basic definition of pie--something sweet or savory (or both) cooked in something starchy--and it's a technique that has inspired cooks as long as humans have stood before a stove. Egyptian, Greek, and Roman records all document foods that meet this criterion. The word pie itself dates back to 14th-century England.
Perhaps it's all this accumulated history that gives pie such a familiar, cozy feeling. If summer turns our thoughts to blueberry pie, and fall wouldn't be fall without at least one slice of apple pie, then winter is certainly a time for hearty savory pies filled with meats, vegetables, and cheeses in various combinations.
The chicken, beef, and pork pies presented here were all inspired by traditional British recipes, but we wandered father afield for our meatless offerings, with a French take on classic Greek spanikopita (made with winter greens, mushrooms, caramelized shallots, feta, and walnuts) and a New England spin on the traditional French galette, or open-faced tart, here made with sweet potatoes, beets, and local goat cheese. It's an international lineup, but it's as homey as can be.
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