S. Worthen | Weblog

I am delighted to see that so many of you have weighed in on what is clearly such an important topic: the subject of the pie-ishness (or lack thereof) of cheesecake. I'm not sure I've ever had so many people vote in a poll of mine before!

The consensus (c. 56%) was clearly that cheesecake is neither pie nor cake. Is it pudding? Is it a tart? Is it a flan? Is its own special confection? brimfire suggests that present vocabulary is inadequate, and a new term should be coined to account for cheesecake's idiosyncrasies; as a fan of intrepid neologisms, I'm certainly interested in considering options. I'm also relieved to be assured by rjw1 that stew is not pie; that certainly simplifies my article revisions.

I'm also fascinated as to how the discussion revolved around what pie is; which, to be fair, was appropriate to the topic, but left entirely open what this "cake" substance might be, and to what degree it overlaps with "pie".

The importance of the subject of cheesecake can be witnessed by your collective discussion of it inspiring me to write poetry.

( On Cheesecake... )

The good was Jezebel's Cake vs. Pie vote-off this past month. The bad is that the ultimate winner was cheesecake. I don't know about you, but I'm not certain that cheesecake is a pie. But I shall leave it for you to decide...

[Poll #1551126]

Cake vs. Pie: The Tournament (via fs_appetizers)

Voting has already begun.

Location: 122 High Street. Loughton, Essex. Opposite M&S.

Pie's a shiny new shop in the town of Loughton, way out east on the Central Line in greater London. It has a few tables for eating in - full on the day - and a solitary table out front on the broad sidewalk. I suspect it has wider aspirations, given that its Facebook and Twitter accounts are named PieLondon.

First things first: the pies are good. Buttery, crisp crust with ample filling on the medium size serving. The steak and mushroom was classic, well-rounded and rich, but not more. The chicken, leek, and ham, on the other hand, was a standout, with a lovely, light wholegrain mustard sauce to bring it all together. Sweets were forgettable, and would have been improved by taking a note from the savory pies and being made in more delicate or distinctive crusts. As was, bland pastry enveloped a nicely smooth chocolate-hazelnut mousse whose flavor couldn't quite counterbalance the crust. Equally bland pastry and crisp meringue shrounded an intense layer of Jolly Ranger flavor-like lemon-passionfruit filling. They looked very pretty at least.

Inside, the counter is a visual combination of pastry store, jewelry store, and bank. Large, solid glass cases filled jewel-like with hot or cold pastries, sweet and savory, cut a line down the edge of the countertop. (Photo) The gaps between the cases, bank cashier-like, are the windows of opportunity for ordering. The signage is poor: pies hide the bottom half of their labels, and the hot pies are cryptically flagged with abbreviations whose entirety is divided between the two halves of the sticker wrapped around a toothpick. Fortunately, there's a flier - for the astute - to read in compensation.

Food options include three sizes of pie, from miniature to small dinner party, mashed and baked potatoes, mashed and baked squash, substantial salads, drinks - hot and cold - and a beautiful array of sweets, some of which might be more memorable than the ones we had. Some of it's for takeaway, especially the mash already in plastic containers and larger pies. It's not cheap, with the medium pies priced at £4.75, but it's not trying to compete with Gregg's. If it gets its signage and intimidating countertop act together, this could be long-term competition for the likes of Square Pie.

billyabbott posts about Sunday's pie-off, and, even more excitingly, posts a selection of photos of the event!

Meanwhile, for thirty seconds of entertainment or usefulness, go fill out kashmera's short poll on spelling. She especially needs more data from Canadians and Americans.

Chorizo pie, steak and mash pie, venison pie, risotto pie, chicken pot pie, pi, Apple Pie Pod, lemon meringue pie, key lime pie, butternet squash tart, cardamon-caramel pineapple pavlova, chocolate brownies, caramel brownies, cheese biscuits, cheese crisps, chocolate chip cookies, soda bread, cheesecake, a tuna-tomato pastry confection, "Wigan kebabs" (three pies on a skewer - crab, beef, plum), custard millefeuille, strawberry-topped cake, chocolate orange cake, cheese crisps, stuffed teddy bear pie, and many more, since I know I've forgotten several of the meat pies. Best of all, the standard of baked goods was high.

So today was the second Great LiveJournal Pie-off, a sequel to March's pie extravaganza. easterbunny conceived and hosted the first one, rjw1 won the grand prize (Best Pie) and thus bore the onus of hosting it. elvum generously volunteered to do the physical hosting, since he has a house with a garden; the garden was particularly lovely on a day with absolutely perfect weather. We sat around, ate too much, voted for baked goods in ten or so categories, watched balloons float distantly away into fluffy clouds, talked about penguins and polar bears, and most people watched the afternoon's nerve-wracking cricket match. It was a lovely afternoon.

I'm delighted to report that I won for "Best Use of Vegetables", thanks to a recipe marzapane introduced me to the last time I baked for this pie contest series: a Roasted Butternut Squash Tart.* billyabbott won "Best Pie" this time 'round and so will be hosting the third and next edition of the Great LJ Pie-off.

* Recipe notes: I used a Joy of Cooking pastry recipe. The local grocery store didn't have any Fontina, so I used a mild cheddar instead.

I arrived in London with a pyrex pie pan in my suitcase to a household with no rolling pin, inadequate numbers of mixing bowls, no suitable surface for rolling out the dough, and no pie recipe. The first three items were easily acquired on Oxford Street (although I would love to know where a good cooking supply store in London is); the lack of recipe was saved by the prompt aid of sioneva and flos_campi. Between them, I made one truly delicious pie with a really tasty crumble topping.

Of course, the real question at stake today was what constituted a pie: can it have a crumble or meringue topping? Is a tart a kind of pie or not? Must a pie have pastry on all sides to count? These conundrums inspired easterbunny and aca to host the first Annual (or perhaps Quarterly) Great LiveJournal Pie-Off today down in the wilds of Cheam.

And oh, was there pie. There was taco pie, steak and kidney pie, breakfast pie, cherry pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, mostly apple pie, a cake masquerading as a pie, mince pies... and quite a few others as well. Most attendees had baked a pie - or three - and there was plenty of pie for eating... and judging... and taking home in the plastic containers which the hosts had thoughtfully provided. I'm happy to report that of all the sweet pies, I liked mine the very best - even if it didn't win the "Best True Pie, Sweet" award. It did sweep the "Pie from Afar" category, however, and I have a pretty certificate to prove it.

We had a lovely time, met lots of new people (since we only knew our hosts), and admired pictures and pottery. easterbunny was particularly thoughtful: she washed and dried our towels in which we'd wrapped the pie for transport! It was a lovely, pie-filled day.

Update: Pie awards and photos are here.