GOING CLASSIC

Courtesy of Spiga Bakery

My husband surprised me with a Lemon Meringue Pie from Spiga – one of the best bakeries in Long Island, New York.

What’s lemon meringue pie? It’s the marriage of golden crust, tangy lemon filling, and a generous topping of sweet meringue.

When was this sweet-and-tart classic invented? There are three parts to lemon meringue pie along with stories that span centuries, continents, and cultures.

Let’s start bottoms up.

The Crust

Crusts have a long and lively history. The first ones came from ancient Egypt, over 8,000 years ago. They used barley, wheat, or oats made into pastry, and slowly baked over hot coals. The crusts were thick, hard, and almost inedible. They were food containers, filled with ingredients such as honey and chicken. Only peasants ate the crust.

I wonder how many teeth they broke.

Foodies thrived in the ancient world. Recipes were passed down to the next generation. The Greeks cooked sliced meats in pastry shells. Romans made “pie cases” called placenta (flat cake).

I hope it was better than the name.

Medieval and Renaissance cooks loved pies. Legend says that the first cherry pie was specially made for Queen Elizabeth I.

Bakers, 1390. Compliments of Wikimedia Commons

Pie recipes crossed the ocean. American pies often reflected local harvests like wild blueberries, citrus, and apples. Eventually new crusts were made from ingredients like graham crackers and crushed cookies.

*For more details, check out my blog, The Comeback Kid.

Lemon Filling

The first citrus trees grew in the Himalayas about 8 million years ago. Lemons are not natural. They’re hybrids like tangelos and purple cauliflower. The lemons we love today are a cross between sour oranges and citron.

Modern lemon trees bloom year-round, each producing 500-600 pounds of lemons.

Lemons arrived in the New World with Christopher Columbus.

Quakers in the late 1700s are usually credited for the first lemon custard. However, Insightful Digest reported that “the story of lemon meringue pie began with the humble lemon custard pies, dating back to medieval Europe” made with readily available lemon, sugar, and eggs.

The British created a tangy, sweet spread called lemon curd, used like jam, jelly or in pastry fillings.

Soooooo good.

 Meringue

Can you imagine a world without meringue – no baked Alaska, Trader Joe’s Krunchy Melts, macarons, or savory egg clouds and cheesy puffs?

Food historians argue about who and when meringue was created. Linda Jackson and Jennifer Gardner, co-authors of the book Meringue, wrote that “Meringue is not only magical. It is mysterious.”

One legend claims that in 1720, Italian chef Gasparini, living in the Swiss town of Meiringen, improved an old recipe. The result was a meringue he hoped would win the heart of 18-year old Princess Mary, betrothed to 52-year old French King Louis XII.

It didn’t work.

Another story says meringue came from France, mentioned in Massialot’s 1692 cookbook.  Others argue the word is the Polish marzynka, a creation made for King Stanislaw Leszcyński, in the late sixteenth century.

Who knows? Maybe it was magic?

Fast forward to 1806, Philadelphia, U.S.A. Elizabeth Goodfellow was a pastry chef and entrepreneur. She started one of the first cooking schools in America. Her recipes, although not printed, were passed down and eventually published by students.

Goodfellow was known for her pies and cakes, designed for upscale customers and events. One day she put the three pieces together to create a dessert called lemon pie – what we call lemon meringue pie.

Eliza Leslie, who compiled Goodfellow’s recipes into a popular cookbook wrote, “a genuine baked lemon pudding [pie] . . . is well known at Philadelphia dinner parties.” Since Goodfellow created her pie with egg yolks, the leftover whites were used to make meringue.

Some food historians argue that Goodfellow wasn’t first. They claim that Victorian England had a dessert called Lemon Chester Pudding.

I’ll stick with Goodfellow. The name works.

Legend says that the lemon meringue pie was a favorite of Abraham Lincoln. Goodfellow’s daughter, Sarah, married Michel Bouvier, making her an ancestor of First Lady Jaqueline Bouvier Kennedy. Jump to Bob Hope who insisted that the recipe be included in the 1992 USO Celebrity Cookbook. Even Ann Landers agreed.

Quite a pedigree.

Putting meringue on pies, circa 1940, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Today, lemon meringue pie has evolved. While the basic recipe remains the same, creative chefs have produced flavored meringue, lemon curds, coconut, and ginger. There’s gluten-free, vegan, chocolate, and berry fillings. You can grab a slice, a tart, or mini; make it yourself, get it frozen, or go to Spiga’s.

Check out National Lemon Meringue Pie Day. Remember, one in five Americans have eaten an entire pie themselves.

That’s quite a mouthful.

Enjoy!