About Lemons and Lemon Pie

Lemon pie is one of the cornerstones of home baking. Lemon and orange pies (and puddings, which they were called early on) are among the most frequently found baked goods in old cookbooks, whether Italian, French, English or American.

Citrus fruits have long been an expensive luxury. Native to northern India, lemons were not used in the Mediterranean until after the time of Christ. In European recipes, lemons were frequently put up as marmalade and other sugared preserves, as well as being used for a host of medicinal purposes, for everything from “curing” freckles and pimples to soothing colds and tonsillitis. The ancient Romans considered lemons an antidote for all poisons.