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Nut, Sugar and Mincemeat Pies
Appears in
By Richard Sax
Published 1994
Traditionally, before all foods were available in all seasons, home bakers had to rely on the pantry when winter arrived, cobbling together pies from the nuts and dried fruits that were always on hand. In many of these pies, a leading role was played by sugar in its various forms: molasses, maple syrup, sorghum or corn syrup.
Though these “pantry pies” are still made in many places, they have earned a special place of distinction in the American South. Southerners, who love pie—especially pecan pie—above all other desserts, “secretly consider dessert the real main course,” quips Washington Post food writer Phyllis Richman. Some truck stops down South still serve home-baked pies for breakfast.