Suzi and I are on our way to Maine to enjoy our favorite summer foods. For Suzi, it is lobster. For me, blueberries. Can we find a single dish that combines our loves? We will surely look. I can’t find a pie recipe with both, but there are lobster and blueberry salads out there. And, in the same meal, you can enjoy first a lobster pot pie then finish with a thick and almost overpowering blueberry pie.
While we are traveling, I’m going to give you cookbook reviews of the best pie books for your enjoyment — for this summer with its bounty of fruit and for the rest of the year, too. It is a proven fact that pie can be eaten every single day of the year. No, I haven’t done that. I have mentioned it to my lovely wife. I shall continue to do so. She not a mathematician.
Let’s begin with the two essential pie books you must have. Yes, you need both. The “best pie book” is a tie between Great Pies & Tarts by Carole Walter and Pie by Ken Haedrich. Here’s why in a nutshell.
We are two thirds of the way through summer, and it is now peak season for pie makers. There are still berries to be had. Peaches abound. And soon, as fall enters, we’ll have apples by the ton. In just two months, fresh pumpkin pie will tempt us.
I like pies of all kinds, but fruit is dearer to me than even chocolate. I remember my first lemon meringue pie, from the Farmers Market at 3rd and Fairfax in Los Angeles. Like a first kiss, that first pie was confirmation that life could be grand.
Suzen and I have collected pie books aplenty over the years. Pie books tend to be slim, with a few dozen recipes. Slimness is not bad and those smallish books have some wonderful ideas.
But when I am in a pie mood, when I need a pie encyclopedia for something different, where do I turn? I happen to be ambidextrous and therefore I can do two page turns at once. If you love pie, then there are two very thick books that you want to consult. Great Pies and Tarts by Carole Walter is a bible at almost 500 pages. Pie by Ken Haedrich comes to us with over 600 pages. Both books are wonderful and both are indispensable. And, they complement each other.
Do you want a tangerine pie, then you need Great Pies and Tarts. Is there a watermelon rolling on your kitchen island, then you need Pie. Great Pies and Tarts does not address watermelon while tangerines do not appear in Pie. These books truly complement each other.
If the slim books have a few dozen recipes, these two tomes have hundreds. Does size, or quantity, matter? It does.
When you ask someone to name a pie, they are going to answer “apple.” Then “cherry” and “berry” will pop up. “Peach” perhaps. “Watermelon?” Never. These books explore paths you cannot find at the supermarket.
Besides offering the most delicious spectrum of flavors, these two books serve a vital role. They capture and preserve a tradition of American pie recipes that might otherwise be lost. Pies from different eras and a different America. You won’t find a Deep-Dish Pluot Pie with Oatmeal-Walnut Crumb Topping in the freezer section of your supermarket. You will in Pie. Creamy Green Grape Pie? Not in the store but Carole has the recipe ready and waiting for you.
Over the years I have published recipes from both books here. You can search on “Walter” or “Haedrich” and find surprises from their pie books. And from their many other books, too. Both authors are prolific and profound. Yes, pie is serious.
Along the way of this pie journey, you can visit Carole Walter at her website or join Ken Haedrich’s Pie Academy for lots of serious pie instruction. Just click here and enjoy: