Talk:History of pie

American?

The current first sentence is "Pie is thought to be American in origin, as in "American Pie" but in actuality pie has a long history dating back to England." This seems problematic to me, since it would never have occurred to me to imagine pie was "American in origin". Steak & kidney pie is a traditional British dish, various sorts of meat pie are an Aussie staple (I think occupying a central place in their non-fancy culinary tradition like hamburgers for the US), Quebec has tourtiere [1], and so on.

Did the notion of sweet pies, rather than meat-based ones, originate in America perhaps? Certainly we have expressions like "American as apple pie", and some pies such as Pecan pie (yuummm!) are very likely American. Sandy Harris 04:02, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

Just who is it that thought pies were American anyway? Not anyone I have ever met or heard of, nor any of the sources I could find, nor the source provided in the article. Time magazine says the pies we know today are a fairly recent addition to a history that goes back as long as mankind has had dough to bake into a crust and stuff to put inside it. Time is American isn't it? Without a reference, it sounds like the only person who thought pies were American was the author of this article. Shouldn't we specify that in the article? It is hardly encyclopedic to say that Pie is thought to be American in origin without saying just who it is that thinks such a thing - less so if that statement is in fact untrue for almost everyone on the planet. Maybe someone official could drop by and explain the concept of America-centrism for us. David Finn 07:09, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

Kathmandu?

I do not know if it is still the case, since I have not been there in decades, but at one point pie shops were a major part of the tourist-oriented restaurant scene in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal. The first one was "Aunt Jane's", started by the wife of a US diplomat or aid official. Recipes basically American, apple pie a speciality (great Apples in the Himalayas), pumpkin pie, coffee cake, ...

There were dozens of imitators, all with more-or-less the same menu. Late 60s through the 70s, they did a really good business. Hordes of more-or-less hippies, mostly North American, European or Antipodean, thousands of miles from home, mostly having spent some months eating mainly Indian food, many with their appetites enhanced by the excellent Nepalese hashish, which most pie shops also sold. Offer Western desserts and they'll mob you.

I am not sure if, or to what extent, this is still the case. Nepal did cave to US pressure and make hash illegal, there's been a whole series of political changes there, and the hippie era is long since over, so I've no idea what it is like now, It does seem to me that those pie shops should be part of any "history of pie", though. Sandy Harris 04:22, 11 August 2011 (UTC)