Pie is one type of dessert that is loved by just about everyone. This is largely because there are so many types of pies out there to choose from, from chocolate fudge to classic cherry to lemon meringue and everything in between. Even more interesting than the variety of pies that exist is the fact that pie popularity varies radically from region to region, making things like coconut cream popular in the southern states and fresh blueberry pie popular in the north east. Killer Pies: Delicious Recipes from North America’s Favorite Restaurants is a cookbook that shares locally famous pie recipes (mostly from diners and cafes) from different areas of the country.
One of the appealing things about this book is that it gives a little background on each of the restaurants that provided a pie recipe. This gives it something of a travelogue feel and (at least in my case) makes you feel like you have a connection with the diner/cafe in question, which in turn makes you want to try the recipe all the more. Each of the pie recipes are given with a crust recipe, but the book also shares a basic crust and a few tips on technique at the beginning, to give a grounding pie technique for the less experienced. Finally, it is probably worth noting that this book is spiral bound, which means it will lay flat on your kitchen counter while you work, unlike some more tightly bound cookbooks that need to be propped open with something.
This is a great book if you are specifically interested in adding more pie recipes to your collection. Chronicle Books, the cookbook’s publisher, has a neat application on their site that allows you to sample a few pie recipes from this book, taken from different regions of North America. Raspberry Rubarb Pie, anyone? Take a look to get a feel for how the recipes are written (fairly straightforward and easy to follow) before you pick it up.
Sally
October 8, 2007Its a nice book for the price and the format is really fun, but I think it makes me want to visit the pie shops more than actually bake the pies. There are several pies which are more or less duplicates of each other—apple, slightly more towering apple with less cinnamon etc. Somehow I expected more exotic pies. Still the one pie I have made from here (chess pie) was eaten up almost immediately so the recipes are solid.