Pecan pie

Pecan pie

Course	Dessert
Place of origin	United States
Main ingredients	Pecan and corn syrup
Food energy (per serving)	503 kcal (2106 kJ)
Cookbook: Pecan pie  Media: Pecan pie

Pecan pie is a pie of pecan nuts mixed with a filling of eggs, butter, and sugar (typically corn syrup).^[1] Variations may include white or brown sugar, sugar syrup, molasses, maple syrup, or honey.^[1] It is popularly served at holiday meals and is also considered a specialty of Southern U.S. cuisine. Most pecan pie recipes include salt and vanilla as flavorings. Chocolate and bourbon whiskey are other popular additions to the recipe.^[2] Pecan pie is often served with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or hard sauce.

Origin

Popular speculation as to the creation of pecan pie points to various parts of the Southeastern United States in the 18th or 19th century. The oldest known recorded recipes for pecan pie were published in 1886.^[3]

Pecans are native to the southern United States. Archaeological evidence found in Texas indicates that Native Americans used pecans more than 8,000 years ago.^[4]:326 The word pecan is a derivative of an Algonquin word, pakani, referring to several nuts.^[5]

Sugar pies such as treacle tart were attested in Medieval Europe, and adapted in North America to the ingredients available, resulting in such dishes as shoofly pie, sugar pie, butter tart and chess pie.^[6] Pecan pie may be a variant of chess pie, which is made with a similar butter-sugar-egg custard.^[7]

Some have stated that the French invented pecan pie soon after settling in New Orleans, after being introduced to the pecan nut by the Native American Quinipissa and Tangipahoa tribes.^[8] Claims have also been made of pecan pie existing in the early 1800s in Alabama, but this does not appear to be backed up by recipes or literature.^[9] Attempts to trace the dish's origin have not found any recipes dated earlier than 1886,^{[10] [11]} and well-known cookbooks such as Fannie Farmer and The Joy of Cooking did not include this dessert before 1940.^[10] The earliest recorded recipes produce a boiled custard with pecans added, which is then baked in a pie crust.^[10]

The makers of Karo syrup significantly contributed to popularizing the dish^[1] and many of the recipes for variants (caramel, cinnamon, Irish creme, peanut butter, etc.) of the classic pie. The company has claimed that the dish was a 1930s "discovery" of a "new use for corn syrup" by a corporate sales executive's wife.^[12][13] Pecan pie was made before the invention of corn syrup and older recipes used darker sugar based syrup or molasses. The 1929 congressional club cookbook has a recipe for the pie which used only eggs, milk, sugar and pecan, no syrup.^[13] The Pecan pie came to be closely associated with the culture of the Southern United States in the 1940s and 1950s.^[14]

Cultural context

A slice of pecan pie

Chocolate pecan tarts prior to baking

Pecan pie is often mentioned in American literature (and television) and is associated with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other special occasions; for example:

Dooley handed them a basket stuffed with fruit, nuts, candy, a tinned ham, and a pecan pie. "Merry Christmas!" he said.

— Jan Karon, A Light in the Window^[15]

The only kitchen item I usually bring to Italy is plastic wrap... This time, however, I have brought one bag of Georgia pecans and a can of cane syrup, pecan pie being a necessary ingredient of Christmas.

— Frances Mayes, Under the Tuscan Sun^[16]

Pecan pie is a staple of the Southern U.S., and is often used in literary context as a symbol of the South; for example:

Beneath the shade of a Georgia pine
And that's home you know
Sweet tea, pecan pie and homemade wine
Where the peaches grow

— Zac Brown^[17]

Variations

In his 2004 book, Ken Haedrich identified a number of popular pecan pie variants:^[4]:328

Butterscotch

Characterized by the addition of butterscotch chips and brown sugar (in addition to, not in place of, corn syrup)^[4]:325–26

Whiskey chocolate chip

In this pie, chocolate chips and a few teaspoons of Jack Daniel whiskey are added.^[4]:327

Alice Colombo's Race Day Chocolate Pecan Pie

This pie is named after Alice Colombo, who was a food editor for the Louisville Courier-Journal in Kentucky. This pie was made by her on the occasion of the Kentucky Derby. The special ingredients suggested in the recipe include cornstarch, to soften the top, bourbon, chocolate chips and whipped cream.^[4]:328

Maple

Includes maple syrup and almond extract^[4]:332

Chocolate brownie

This pie has nuts on the surface and it is layered with chocolate pudding and fudge. It is served at room temperature or chilled.^[4]:333

Sawdust Pie

Sawdust Pie is a signature recipe of Patti's Restaurant in Paducah, Kentucky, consisting of an egg-batter filling with coconut, graham cracker crumbs and pecans, topped with whipped cream and sliced bananas.^[4]:336[18]

See also

• List of pies, tarts and flans
• List of Christmas dishes
• Peanut pie

References

External links

• Media related to Pecan pies at Wikimedia Commons
• Media related to Pecan tarts at Wikimedia Commons

American pies
Sweet	Apple crisp Apple pie Bean pie Blackberry pie Black bottom pie Blueberry pie Bob Andy pie Buttermilk pie Cashew pie Cherry pie Chess pie Cream pie Derby Pie Fried pie Grape pie Key lime pie Lemon ice box pie Maraca pie Mississippi mud pie Peanut pie Pecan pie Pumpkin pie Rhubarb pie Shaker Lemon Pie Shoofly pie Strawberry rhubarb pie Sweet potato pie Sugar pie Walnut pie
Savory	Crawfish pie Pot pie Natchitoches meat pie
Manufacturers	Hostess Kellogg Company Little Debbie Marie Callender's Mrs. Smith's Sara Lee Tasty Baking Company