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{{short description|Baked, filled pastry}}
{{About|the baked goods|the mathematical constant|Pi|other uses|Pie (disambiguation)}}
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{{Infobox prepared food
| name             = Pie
| image            = FoodApplePie.jpg
| image_size       = 250px
| caption          = A slice of an [[apple pie]]
| alternate_name   = 
| country          = 
| region           = 
| creator          = 
| course           = 
| type             = 
| served           = 
| main_ingredient  = Pie shell
| variations       = Sweet pies, savoury pies
| calories         = 
| other            = 
}}

A '''pie''' is a baked dish which is usually made of a [[pastry]] dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various [[sweetness|sweet]] or [[Umami|savoury]] ingredients.

Pies are defined by their [[crust (baking)|crusts]].  A ''filled'' pie (also ''single-crust'' or ''bottom-crust''), has pastry lining the baking dish, and the filling is placed on top of the pastry but left open. A ''top-crust'' pie has the filling in the bottom of the dish and is covered with a pastry or other covering before baking. A ''two-crust'' pie has the filling completely enclosed in the pastry shell.  [[Shortcrust pastry]] is a typical kind of pastry used for pie crusts, but many things can be used, including [[biscuit (bread)|baking powder biscuits]], [[mashed potatoes]], and [[graham cracker crust|crumbs]].

Pies can be a variety of sizes, ranging from bite-size to ones designed for multiple servings.

==History==
[[File:The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis - Pie crimper.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A 19th-century pie crimper made of [[ivory]], in the collection of [[The Children's Museum of Indianapolis]]]]

The need for nutritious, easy-to-store, easy-to-carry, and long-lasting foods on long journeys, in particular at [[sea]], was initially solved by taking live food along with a [[butcher]] or [[cook (profession)|cook]]. However, this took up additional space on what were either [[horse]]-powered treks or small ships, reducing the time of travel before additional food was required. This resulted in early [[army|armies]] adopting the style of hunter-[[foraging]].

The introduction of the [[baking]] of processed cereals including the creation of [[flour]], provided a more reliable source of food. [[Egypt]]ian sailors carried a flat brittle [[bread]] [[loaf]] of [[millet]] bread called ''dhourra'' cake, while the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] had a [[biscuit]] called ''buccellum''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info_sheet_ship_biscuit.htm|title=Ships Biscuits - Royal Navy hardtack|publisher=Royal Navy Museum|accessdate=14 January 2010}}</ref>

During the Egyptian [[Neolithic]] period or [[New Stone Age]] period, the use of stone tools shaped by polishing or grinding, the domestication of plants and animals, the establishment of permanent villages, and the practice of crafts such as [[pottery]] and [[weaving]] became common. Early pies were in the form of flat, round or freeform crusty cakes called [[galette]]s consisting of a crust of ground [[oats]], [[wheat]], [[rye]], or [[barley]] containing [[honey]] inside. These galettes developed into a form of early sweet [[pastry]] or [[desserts]], evidence of which can be found on the tomb walls of the [[Pharaoh]] [[Ramesses II]], who ruled from 1304 to 1237 BC, located in the [[Valley of the Kings]].<ref name=WCA/> Sometime before 2000 BC, a recipe for chicken pie was written on a tablet in [[Sumer]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6cBSI6TioRQC&pg=PA69&dq=Sumerian+recipes&hl=en&ei=2Z8tTpTcMNO5tgfYgcXXAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=Sumerian%20recipes&f=false Somervill, ''Empires of Ancient Mesopotamia'', p.69]</ref>

[[File:Pecan pie slice (cropped).jpg|thumb|A slice of [[pecan pie]]]]
[[File:Tarte pruneaux 2.jpg|thumb|Jeûne Genevois [[plum]] pie]]
[[File:Chickenpie1.JPG|thumb|A chicken pie with a traditional [[pie bird]]]]

[[Ancient Greeks]] are believed to have originated pie pastry. In the plays of [[Aristophanes]] (5th century BC), there are mentions of sweetmeats including small pastries filled with fruit. Nothing is known of the actual pastry used, but the Greeks certainly recognized the trade of pastry-cook as distinct from that of baker. (When fat is added to a flour-water paste it becomes a [[pastry]].) The Romans made a plain pastry of flour, oil, and water to cover meats and fowls which were baked, thus keeping in the juices. (The covering was not meant to be eaten; it filled the role of what was later called puff paste.) A richer pastry, intended to be eaten, was used to make small pasties containing eggs or little birds which were among the minor items served at banquets.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodpies.html|title=Food Pies|publisher=FoodTimeline.org|accessdate=2010-07-05}}</ref>

The 1st-century Roman cookbook ''[[Apicius]]'' makes various mentions of recipes which involve a pie case.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Apicius: Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome|editor=Joseph Dommers Vehling|publisher=Dover:New York|year=1977|accessdate=2010-07-05}}</ref> By 160 BC, Roman statesman [[Cato the Elder|Marcus Porcius Cato]] (234–149 BC), who wrote ''[[De Agri Cultura]]'', notes the recipe for the most popular pie/cake called ''[[Placenta (food)|placenta]]''. Also called ''libum'' by the Romans, it was more like a modern-day [[cheesecake]] on a pastry base, often used as an offering to the gods. With the development of the Roman Empire and its efficient road transport, pie cooking spread throughout [[Europe]].<ref name=WCA/>

Pies remained as a staple of traveling and working peoples in the colder northern European countries, with regional variations based on both the locally grown and available meats, as well as the locally farmed cereal crop. The [[Cornish pasty]] is an adaptation of the pie to a working man's daily food needs.<ref name=WCA/>

Medieval cooks had restricted access to ovens due to their costs of construction and need for abundant supplies of fuel. Pies could be easily cooked over an open fire, while partnering with a baker allowed them to cook the filling inside their own locally defined casing. The earliest pie-like recipes refer to '''coffyns''' (the word actually used for a [[basket]] or [[box]]), with straight sealed sides and a top; open-top pies were referred to as '''traps'''. The resulting hardened pastry was not necessarily eaten, its function being to contain the filling for cooking, and to store it, though whether servants may have eaten it once their masters had eaten the filling is impossible to prove.<ref>Clarkson, 2009. Pages 18–19</ref> This may also be the reason why early recipes focus on the filling over the surrounding case, with the partnership development leading to the use of reusable earthenware pie cases which reduced the use of expensive flour.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy |author=Odile Redon |publisher=University of Chicago Press:Chicago |year=1998 |isbn=0-226-70684-2 |display-authors=etal}}</ref>

The first reference to "pyes" as food items appeared in [[England]] (in a [[Latin]] context) as early as the 12th century, but no unequivocal reference to the item with which the article is concerned is attested until the 14th century (''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' sb ''pie'').<ref name=WCA/>

[[Song bird]]s at the time were a delicacy and protected by Royal Law. At the coronation of eight-year-old English [[King Henry VI]] (1422–1461) in 1429, "Partrich" and "Pecok enhakill" were served, alleged by some modern writers to consist of cooked [[peacock]] mounted in its skin on a peacock-filled pie. Cooked birds were frequently placed by European royal cooks on top of a large pie to identify its contents, leading to its later adaptation in pre-Victorian times as a porcelain ornament to release of steam and identify a good pie.<ref name=WCA>{{Cite web|url=http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/PieHistory.htm|title=History of Pie|publisher=whatscookingamerica.net|accessdate=2010-07-05}}</ref>

The [[Pilgrim fathers]] and early settlers brought their pie recipes with them to [[United States|America]], adapting to the ingredients and techniques available to them in the New World. Their first pies were based on berries and fruits pointed out to them by the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native North American]]s.<ref name=WCA/> Pies allowed colonial cooks to stretch ingredients and also used round shallow pans to literally "cut corners" and to create a regional variation of shallow pie.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America|editor=Andrew Smith|publisher=Oxford University Press:New York|accessdate=2010-07-05}}</ref>

==Regional variations==
[[File:Homemade meat pie.jpg|thumb|Homemade [[meat pie]] with [[beef]] and [[vegetable]]s.]]

[[Meat pie]]s with fillings such as steak, cheese, [[steak and kidney pie|steak and kidney]], [[minced beef]], or [[chicken]] and [[mushroom]] are popular in the [[United Kingdom]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title =Pie |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |location=Chicago |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/459681/pie |accessdate=2008-09-12}}</ref> [[Australia]], [[South Africa]] and [[New Zealand]] as take-away snacks. They are also served with [[French fried potatoes|chips]] as an alternative to [[fish and chips]] at British chip shops.

[[Pot pies]] with a flaky crust and bottom are also a popular American dish, typically with a filling of meat (particularly beef, chicken, or turkey), gravy, and mixed vegetables (potatoes, carrots, and peas).  Frozen pot pies are often sold in individual serving size.

Fruit pies may be served with a scoop of ice cream, a style known in [[North America]] as [[pie a la mode|pie à la mode]]. Many sweet pies are served this way. [[Apple pie]] is a traditional choice, though any pie with sweet fillings may be served ''à la mode''. This combination, and possibly the name as well, is thought to have been popularized in the mid-1890s in the [[United States]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/remember_the_a_la_mode_pie_a_la_mode/ |title="Remember the à la mode!" (pie à la mode)|accessdate=2007-10-29 }}</ref> Apple pie can be done with a variety of apples: Golden Delicious, Pink Lady, Granny Smith, and Rome Beauty.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.stemilt.com/stem-blog/the-best-apples-for-apple-pie/|title=Best Apples For Apple Pie {{!}} Stemilt|date=2015-09-28|newspaper=Stemilt|language=en-US|access-date=2016-11-15}}</ref>

==Pie throwing==
{{Main article|Pieing}}
Cream filled or topped pies are favorite props for [[slapstick]] humor. Throwing a pie in a person's face has been a staple of film comedy since [[Ben Turpin]] received one in ''[[Mr. Flip]]'' in 1909.<ref>{{cite web | title = A Very Brief History of Slapstick | work = Splat TV | year = 2003 | url = http://splat-tv.artshtick.com/history.html | accessdate = 2009-01-29}}</ref>  More recently, [[pieing]] has also become a political act; some activists throw cream pies at politicians and other public figures as a form of protest.

==Types==
{{Main article|List of pies}}

===Savory pies===
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*[[Bacon and egg pie]]
*[[Butter pie]]
*[[Chicken and mushroom pie]]
*[[Corned beef pie]]
*[[Cottage pie]] (or shepherds' pie)
*[[Game pie]]
*[[Fish pie]]
*[[Frito pie]]
*[[Homity pie]]
*[[Meat pie]]
*[[Pasty]]
*[[Pizza]]
*[[Pork pie]]
*[[Pot pie]]
*[[Quiche]]
*[[Scotch pie]]
*[[Curry pie]]
*[[Stargazy pie]]
*[[Steak pie]]
*[[Steak and kidney pie]]
*[[Tourtière]]
{{div col end}}
<gallery mode=packed class="center" caption="Savory pies" widths="220px" heights="220px" >
File:Chicken Pie.JPG|A chicken pie
File:Cornish pasty - cut.jpeg|A traditional Cornish [[pasty]] filled with [[steak]] and vegetables
</gallery>

===Sweet pies===
Some of these pies are pies in name only, such as the [[Boston cream pie]], which is a [[cake]].  Many fruit and berry pies are very similar, varying only the fruit used in filling. Fillings for sweet or fruity are often mixed, such as [[strawberry rhubarb pie]].
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*[[Apple pie]]
*[[Banoffee pie]]
*[[Blackberry pie]]
*[[Black bottom pie]]
*[[Blueberry pie]]
*[[Buko pie]]
*[[Bundevara]]
*[[Cherry pie]]
*[[Chess pie]]
*[[Chiffon pie]]
*[[Cream pie]]
*[[Custard pie]]
*[[Fried pie]]
*[[Key lime pie]]
*[[Lemon pie]]
*[[Lemon meringue pie]]
*[[Mince pie]]
*[[Pecan pie]]
*[[Pumpkin pie]]
*[[Rhubarb pie]]
*[[Shoofly pie]]—a pie filled with [[molasses]]
*[[Strawberry pie]]
*[[Sugar pie]]
*[[Sweet potato pie]]
{{div col end}}

<gallery mode=packed class="center" caption="Sweet pies" widths="220px" heights="220px" >
Image:Pumpkin Pie.jpg|[[Pumpkin pie]]
Image:Blackberry pie and ice cream, 2006.jpg|[[Blackberry pie]] and [[ice cream]]
File:Raisin pie with lattice crust.JPG|[[Raisin]] pie with a lattice-style crust
File:Making Pear pie with puff pastry.jpg|[[Pear-shaped]] [[pear pie]] with [[puff pastry]]
</gallery>

==See also==
{{portal|Food}}
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[American Pie Council]]
* [[Crostata]]
* [[Dabby-Doughs]]
* [[Empanada]]
* [[Flan]]
* [[List of baked goods]]
* [[List of desserts]]
* [[List of pies, tarts and flans]]
* [[List of foods]]
* [[Meringue]]
* [[Pirog]]
* [[Pirozhki]]
* [[Shortcrust pastry]]
* [[Tart]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|28em}}

==Sources==

* {{cite book|last1=Clarkson|first1=Jane|title=Pie: A Global History|date=2009|publisher=Reaktion|isbn=978-1-86189-425-0}}

==External links==
{{commons|Pie}}
{{Wiktionary|pie}}
{{cookbook}}
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Pie}}
* [http://www.godecookery.com/twotarts/twotarts.html A Tale of Two Tarts by Monica Gaudio] (contains info that can be added into article with references)
* [http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodpies.html Food Timeline, History Notes: Pie & Pastry]
* [http://www.recipeforpie.com/ A Wide Variety of Pie Recipes] at recipeforpie.com

[[Category:Pies| ]]
[[Category:European cuisine]]