Читать книгу The Mini Book of Pies - Sophie Conran - Страница 5

What is a pie? Sounds like a simple question, but over the years pies have been and still are many varied things, so for a definition I’d say the looser the better. Pies can be savoury or sweet, enclosed or open, with pastry or not, the right way up or even upside down. Pies helpfully are often called a pie, but sometimes it’s a pasty, a quiche, pudding, tart or even a cake.

Big or small, pies are wonderfully difficult to define. The term “pie” is used to describe dishes that aren’t pies at all but confections, and their adjunct can describe their filling or not. An Eskimo pie is my favourite offender, being neither a pie nor containing a single shred of Eskimo. It is, in fact, an oblong of ice cream covered in chocolate. So, in keeping with the rebellious nature of pies everywhere, I’ve sneaked some controversial ones into this book!

Pies have been the food of kings and of paupers, eaten at extravagant banquets or taken down Cornish tin mines (the origin of the pasty), and there was a time when the streets of every town across the land would have been filled with the shouts of pie sellers. Yet in recent years the reputation of pies has suffered greatly in the public imagination, largely due to the many food crimes committed in its name. Pies have become associated with unhealthy, mass-produced snacks made from the otherwise unwanted parts of animals: the gristly and knobbly bits, encased in a tasteless, processed shell that coats your mouth in fat. But a pie is only as good as the quality of its ingredients, and happily there now seems to be a pie renaissance underway with lots of new companies producing fabulous pies, baking only the best fillings under the lid.

Pies are great for entertaining, as they can be prepared days in advance and make a fabulous centrepiece. They are also a great way of using up leftovers, transforming them from yesterday’s roast into steaming loveliness. And they freeze well too. Regardless of calorie count, I cannot think of anything so wholesome and nurturing for children, so comforting as a treat or so perfect for a big occasion as a well-made pie.

Pies are very social dishes and for this reason I have included numerous recipes written by family and friends. They are all about sharing and as such encapsulate some of the greatest joys in life. A pie makes an excellent gift. You will be very popular with friends if you bring one along when staying for the weekend (one less meal for your host to cook). During the days and nights of writing this book I have cooked hundreds of pies, baking on average about three different flavours a day. My kitchen has been groaning with pies and being the offspring of two war babies I loathe waste, so every visitor or person I have visited has had at least one pie pressed upon them. I can often been found with a pie in the bottom of my handbag, just in case I see a hungry-looking friend. They have always been delighted to receive it.

I hope you enjoy cooking from this book, getting it dirty, splattering it with ingredients. I hope you enjoy the smells, the sound of gentle bubbling, the peace of mixing and rolling the pastry, the excitement of fetching a pie from the oven. But most of all I hope you enjoy sharing the results of your labours with those that you love.