Now that fall has arrived, we’ve got pumpkins on the brain – especially pumpkin pie. And that made us think about the history behind pumpkin pie.
Pumpkin pie is extremely popular in America and Canada. But where did our obsession with pumpkin pie begin?
Pumpkin Pie Origins
The name pumpkin originated from the Greek word for large melon: “pepon.” The French changed “pepon” to “pompon.” The English termed it “pumpion” or “pompion.”
1621 –
Early American settlers of the Plymouth Colony in southern New England (1620-1692) may have made pumpkin pies, of sorts, without crusts. They stewed pumpkins or filled a hollowed out pumpkin shell with milk, honey and spices, and then baked it in hot ashes.
Northeastern Native American tribes grew squash and pumpkins. The Native Americans brought pumpkins as gifts to the first settlers, and taught them the many uses for pumpkin. This led to serving pumpkin pie at the first Thanksgiving in America about 50 years later.
1651 –
Francois Pierre la Varenne was a famous French chef and author of one of the most important French cookbooks of the 17th century, Le Vrai Cuisinier Francois (The True French Cook). It was translated and published in England as The French Cook in 1653. This cookbook contained a recipe for “Tourte of Pumpkin” that featured a pastry shell:
Tourte of Pumpkin – Boile it with good milk, pass it through a straining pan very thick, and mix it with sugar, butter, a little salt and if you will, a few stamped almonds; let all be very thin. Put it in your sheet of paste; bake it. After it is baked, besprinkle it with sugar and serve.
1670s –
By the 1670s, recipes for “pumpion pie” began to appear in English cookbooks. The pumpkin pie recipes started to sound more familiar, including spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Often the recipes added apples, raisins, or currants to the filling.
1796 –
It was not until 1796 that a truly American cookbook called American Cookery, by an American Orphan by Amelia Simmons, was published. It was the first American cookbook written and published here, and the first with recipes for foods native to America. Simmons’ pumpkin puddings were baked in a crust and similar to present-day pumpkin pies.
2010 –
On Sept. 25, 2010, in New Bremen, Ohio, at the New Bremen Pumpkinfest bakers created the world’s largest pumpkin pie. The pie consisted of 1,212 pounds of canned pumpkin, 109 gallons of evaporated milk, 2,796 eggs, 7 pounds of salt, 14.5 pounds of cinnamon, and 525 pounds of sugar. The final pie weighed 3,699 pounds and measured 20 feet in diameter. We have to admire this feat of pumpkin pie baking!
Today –
These days, home bakers have a plethora of pumpkin-inspired recipes to choose from – thank you, Pinterest! Certainly, pumpkin pie is not only a staple at Thanksgiving, but also for Christmas. It’s really the perfect fall holiday treat.
Here at Tippin’s Pies, we’re happy to bake our made-from-scratch pumpkin pies for you. Stop in to one of these grocery store locations to taste the best pumpkin pie around. The holidays can be hectic, so leave the baking to us, and taste how the history of pumpkin pie has been perfected by Tippin’s Pies!
