Historic Vinegar Pie, oh my!
Vinegar pie sound like a contradiction in terms. A pie based around vinegar? For the Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge #5 (Pies), I decided to explore vinegar pie in the 1860's.
I had had some vinegar pie at the Eagle Tavern in Greenfield Village this May. The pie was delightful - light and lemony. The technique seems similar to that of Key Lime pie, in which the acid "cooks" the raw eggs. There was only one problem: as I combed through mid-nineteenth century cookbooks, I could not find a recipe for vinegar pie. Except for one. And it didn't sound like it would turn out the way I was hoping, since there were no eggs included. But there was one recipe! That meant the challenge was on!
The recipe I found came from The Practical Housekeeper and Young Woman's Friend by Mrs. M. L. Scott (Toledo. 1855) Like most period recipes, the instructions were minimal, assuming a familiarity with the necessary techniques.
Vinegar Pie. -- One cup of brown sugar, half a cup of water, two tablespoonsful of vinegar,
one teaspoonful of essence of lemon, a tablespoonful of flour. Bake between two crusts,
moderately half an hour.
And there you have it! What exactly does one do with that? Rather than despair, I chose to research some more by sifting through more modern recipes for vinegar pie, hoping to pick up some helpful advice. The bulk of recipes involve eggs and or cream, so they were quickly eliminated. I did find one recipe that seemed quite similar in its ingredients, although the quantities were larger.
The United States Regional Cookbook (Culinary Arts Institute of Chicago, 1947) had a recipe that was supposedly "still made by the grandchildren of our early settlers." Oral attributions and memories of grandma's or great-grandma's recipe is not very official or documentable, but I was intrigued by the fact it avoided eggs. There was a great deal of similarity.
1 c brown sugar, tightly packed
2 c water
1 c vinegar
2 Tblsp butter
1/2 c flour
water
2 pie crusts
Combine sugar, water, and vinegar in a saucepan, bringing it to the boil.
Add butter and stir until it melts.
Mix flour with a little cold water to make a smooth paste.
Add to boiling liquid slowly and stir until thickened
Line a pie pan with pastry, pour in filling, and cover with second crust. (Recipe suggests lattice strips)
Bake at 450F for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350F and bake for an additional 25 minutes.
Here was the technique - making a thickened filling first and adding it to the shell.
And here caution and some outright fear won out. I was planning on taking this pie on a weekend reenactment as our only form of dessert - the very next day. The first recipe would produce a very small volume of filling for the pie. Was I willing to trust? The second recipe with the larger volume it would be. I promised myself I would use my experience from this first pie to try the one with the smaller volume.
The filling went together well enough, although the flour-paste showed a tendency to lump, which I had to mash out. I picked apple cider vinegar as the vinegar of choice since it was used extensively in the 1860s and has a less harsh taste profile than white vinegar.
I decided to use a simple flour/lard/water crust for simplicity's sake and because it is the type of pie crust I have made for many years. When I poured it in, the filling was alarmingly sparse in the 9" pie pan. At this point, it had a distinct resemblance to a pumpkin pie filling although it smelled nothing like it. Rather than making a lattice crust, I chose a full top crust, since I would be transporting the pie and storing it in a tent.
Fortunately there are no photos of me draping the top crust, since it keep slipping alarmingly into the hot and sticky filling. You'll have to take my word for it - it wasn't pretty.
The filling puffed up somewhat during the baking, but not enough to bring it over the lip of the pan.
And off to the reenactment we went with lots of optimism. The pie kept well and needed no refrigeration, even though it was in the 90s during the day. I was very curious how the pie would turn out. Would the filling have set or would it still be runny? After dinner, it was time to cut into the pie and find out
From a textural perspective, a success! The filling was firm but not solid. As for the taste, it's hard to describe. Tart yet sweet at the same time, more on the tart side. Considering how much vinegar was in the pie, it didn't surprise me that it wasn't truly lemony in taste, but it was almost impossible to determine what the taste was. And we liked it.
I discovered that I wouldn't want a much thicker filling; it would become overwhelming and too gooey. It is a pie that asks to be eaten slowly rather than gulped and is refreshing on a hot day. Besides being stable, it is a very frugal pie to make, with the brown sugar being the most costly ingredient and could be made from pantry staples. I would estimate it cost less than $5 to make.
I discovered that I wouldn't want a much thicker filling; it would become overwhelming and too gooey. It is a pie that asks to be eaten slowly rather than gulped and is refreshing on a hot day. Besides being stable, it is a very frugal pie to make, with the brown sugar being the most costly ingredient and could be made from pantry staples. I would estimate it cost less than $5 to make.
And, true to my normal hospitable self, I offered experimental slices to guinea pigs - er - guests who stopped by (along with full disclosure that it was an experiment).
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