pie

pie, dish made by lining a shallow container with pastry and filling the container with a sweet or savoury mixture. A top crust may be added; the pie is baked until the crust is crisp and the filling is cooked through. Pies have been popular in the United States since colonial times, so much so that apple pie has become symbolic of traditional American home cooking. The typical American pie is round, 8–10 inches (20–25 cm) in diameter, 2–3 inches (5–8 cm) thick, and usually contains a sweet filling of fruit, custard, or a pastry cream. Some American specialties are pecan pie, pumpkin custard pie (traditionally served on Thanksgiving Day), lemon pie with a soft meringue topping, and shoofly pie, a Pennsylvania Dutch (see Pennsylvania German) pie with a rich filling containing molasses.

In the United Kingdom, meat, game, and fish pies have been staple dishes since the Middle Ages. Steak and kidney, pork, game, veal and ham, and poultry are all popular. Tourtière, a pork pie, is one of Canada’s national dishes.

Tarts are similar to pies and the names are often used interchangeably. Tarts are made with short rather than flaky pastry and are frequently baked “blind,” or empty, and filled after baking. A flan is a tart made in an open-bottom pan that is placed on a baking sheet. Tarts and flans, which are usually straight-sided, are often removed from their pans before serving. Because pies are baked in pans with flaring sides, they are usually served from the pans.