Pie for a Cause
The first recorded recipe for pie came from the kitchens of England’s King Richard II in 1390. Published in The Forme of Cury, the Tartys in Applis (aka: apple pie) instructed the King’s kitchen staff to “Tak gode Applys and gode Spycis and Figys and reysons and Perys and wan they are wel ybrayed couloured with Safron well and do yt in a cofyn and yt forth to bake wel.” Translation: mix sweet and tart apples along with pears, raisins, figs, spices and bake in a crust. Spices were left up to the individual cooks, but popular seasoning s of the period included saffron, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamon, cloves, galangal, black pepper, and mace.
Maybe this will give you an idea of what type of pie to bake for the 2025 Bethesda Pie Contest which will take place on October 5th (enter by October 1st, 4 PM here). The annual pie contest is one of the market’s most popular events with 100% of all money raised going to Manna Food Center, a local nonprofit focused on fighting food insecurity in Montgomery County.
The contest is open to all amateur bakers and will include a variety of pies including Best Apple, Best Fruit, Best Sweet, Best Savory, and Best Kids along with a Best Overall. After the judging, the pies will be cut and served to the public for a donation. Apologies to all our culinary professionals who shop the market. Maybe you can offer to be a judge!
Pie can be anything baked in a pastry crust. Some crusts encase the entire dish; others simply form a cradle for ingredients. In the savory department things can get a little confusing since shepherd pie and cottage pie have top crusts made from mashed potatoes. To really confuse people, Pennsylvania Dutch Pot Pie isn’t a pie at all, but a thick stew in which slabs of pie crust (aka: noodles) are cooked in the broth. Technically quiche and pizza are pies, too. If you really want to get fancy, there are tortes and tarts. For anyone wanting to get their kids involved, my favorite kitchen project would be a galette, a French free-form crust perfect for little hands to shape.
Once you’ve decided on what style and flavor of pie to make the next step is to procure your ingredients. Good news! The market has all the ingredients needed to make an awesome pie, including for crust. With apple season upon us, there are plenty of varieties to choose from. There’s also berries, peaches, plums, and figs. If you’re going the savory route, we’ve got herbs, vegetables, mushrooms, meats, and cheeses galore.
Although pies come in all shapes, the most common shape is round. This has a number of benefits in addition to being able to cut the pie into evenly distributed slices. Without any sharp edges, the heat is consistent—no burned edges. That same round crust is what provides stability when the pie is cut, making it much less likely for the top crust to fall off.
There’s plenty of time to sign up, pick your recipe, and shop for ingredients. And if you don’t want to bake a pie, you can still participate by showing up on October 5th and getting yourself a piece of pie (or two). Find out more at https://www.centralfarmmarkets.com