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HISTORY OF PIE
Early Pies
Everyone is familiar with pie classics such as apple pie, chicken pot pie, and quiche, but did you know that the first pies (as we know them today) were often made from pastry that was intentionally barely edible, and with fillings such as whole birds? While several Middle Eastern and classical cultures, including the Egyptians and the Romans, made pie-like pastries, pie as we know it came into being in Northern Europe in the Middle Ages (roughly AD 500 to 1450). i
Because the "proto-pies" of the Middle East and other classical civilizations were made from olive oil, the crust didn't have the familiar flakiness and heft of the classic pie crusts we know today. ii During Roman times (5th C. BC - 6th C. AD), and later in the Middle Ages in Europe, pastry was used as a method of keeping meats and other savory fillings moist during cooking, and also as a way in which to partially hermetically seal the filling in order to keep it from spoiling. The pastry, made from flour, suet (beef fat), eggs, and other ingredients, was dense and hard. Usually only the kitchen staff would eat the pastry topping, leaving the savory filling for banquet guests. iii
The first written record in English of the word "pie" (or "pye") was in 1301. iv The Oxford English Dictionary describes pie as "a baked dish of fruit, meat, fish, or vegetables, covered with pastry (or a similar substance) and frequently also having a base and sides of pastry. Also, a baked open pastry case filled with fruit..." v European medieval pies usually had a variety of fillings in one pie, often a combination of several types of meat and fruits. In fact, the word "pie" is thought to be derived from "magpie", a bird which collects a variety of different objects. vi
As pies evolved in Europe, and then later in the New World, pies with one primary ingredient became more common. Modern pie crust usually contains a proportion of fat that is solid at room temperature (such as lard, butter, or vegetable shortening), flour, water, and a little salt, whereas pie fillings, both savory and sweet, are now almost infinite in their variety.
Pie in North America
English colonists brought their recipes for pie with them to the New World when they immigrated. Other immigrants, such as the French, the Dutch, and the Scandinavians, brought their pastry-making techniques and traditions with them to the New World. vii In North America, pie was a way in which to make precious ingredients last longer;  pie crust uses less flour than a loaf of bread, and could be filled with ingredients, such as dried apples, that can be kept over winter. viii But pie eventually also became a way in which to showcase local ingredients and the immigrant backgrounds of the region's inhabitants. In the United States, there are cream and cheese pies in the northern Midwest, where dairy farms abounded; pecan pie in the South and Southwest where nut trees proliferated; fresh berry pies made by Scandinavian immigrants in the upper Midwest; and lime pie in Florida, where the famous key limes once grew plentifully. American pies likely started out with a suet or lard crust. Crisco, a popular brand of vegetable shortening, was invented in the United States in 1911 ix and vegetable shortening soon became the fat of choice for creating pie crusts, as lard went out of fashion (butter, being quite a bit more expensive than vegetable shortening, was preferred for taste, but not for the "shortness", or tenderness, of the crust it creates).
As pie took root in North America, the types of sweet pie available effectively exploded. An American cookbook from 1796 listed only 3 sweet pies (apple pie, currant pie, and buttered apple pie) x , while a cookbook from late 1800s listed 8 types of sweet pie (grandmother's apple pie, dried-apple pie, lemon pie, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, cherry and berry pie, custard pie, mincemeat pie) xi -- but a cookbook from the 1940s lists a whopping 65 different pie recipes! xii Different types of pie include: chiffon pies, delicate creations usually made with gelatin and egg whites; cream pies, usually made with a custard or pudding filling; ice box pies, made with ice cream, whipped cream, or sweetened condensed milk, with many variations; meringue pies, usually made with a gelatin-fruit combination filling, topped with whipped egg whites and baked briefly in a hot oven; fruit pies of all varieties; chocolate pies; nut pies - the imagination of American pie bakers is virtually limitless.
Pumpkin pie, an American Thanksgiving staple, probably originated from English recipes for "tartstuff", made from boiled and spiced fruit. xiii Contrary to popular belief, pumpkin pie was not served  at the first Pilgrim Thanksgiving, and did not become common at our Thanksgiving tables until the early 1800s. xiv The first recorded recipe for pumpkin pie appeared in an English cookbook in 1675. xv Pumpkin pie today is often made with sweetened condensed milk, but old-fashioned recipes for the pie use a custard base to which pureed pumpkin is added.
As American as Apple Pie
Pumpkin pie may be an American Thanksgiving tradition, but few foods evoke Americana more than the American apple pie. Apples are not native to the Americas, however, but were imported originally from Europe, and apple pies and tarts were popular for many years in Europe. xvi One of the first written recipes for an "apple tart" is from an English cookbook dating from about 1390 (and republished in the mid-18th Century). The recipe says (translated from the old English):
For to make an apple tart (tartys in applis):
Take good apples and good spices and figs and raisins and pears and when they are well colored with saffron well and do it in a coffyn [an old English term for pastry crust] and do it forth to bake well. xvii
As the US became the world's most productive apple-growing country, apple pies grew in popularity and eventually came to epitomize an American way of life. A few theories abound as to the popularity of apple pie, specifically, in the US, given the proliferation of other types of sweet pies. One theory implicates teetotalers - in the colonial era, apples were grown for hard cider. As the temperance movement took hold at the turn of the last century, a new use for apples was being searched for, and apple-based desserts gained in popularity. xviii The phrase "As American as Apple pie" is hypothesized to have been invented by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. xix
Savory Pies
From the earliest history of pie, the pastry has been filled with savory fare, from mutton to beef, from fish to porpoise (yes, porpoise - it was considered a fish and therefore acceptable to eat on Fridays in Catholic Europe), and in this country, from chicken to cheese. Savory pies (filled with savory ingredients such as meat, rather than sweet ingredients such as fruit) are generally called "pot pies" in the US, a phrase which first appeared in print in 1785. xx
Like sweet pies, savory pies also reflect the local surroundings of the countries and regions from which they came. Quiche is a French term which originally comes from the Lorraine region of France, meaning a savory pie filled with egg  and cream. Current quiche Lorraine recipes usually contain egg, cheese, cream, and bacon or ham. Quiche came into vogue in the US in the 1980s, as chefs began to use quiche as a method of highlighting various ingredients. xxi Shepherd's pie, another common savory pie, is traditionally made with lamb or mutton (hence the name, "shepherd's pie") and is topped with mashed potatoes in lieu of a top pie crust. The dish probably originated in the early 19th Century in northern England or Scotland, where sheep abounded. Cottage pie is similar to Shepherd's pie, but is usually made with beef instead of lamb or mutton. xxii
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