A delicious and delightful narrative history of pie in America, from the colonial era through the civil rights movement and beyond

From the pumpkin pie gracing the Thanksgiving table to the apple pie at the Fourth of July picnic, nearly every American shares a certain nostalgia for a simple circle of crust and filling. But America’s history with pie has not always been so sweet. After all, it was a slice of cherry pie at the Woolworth’s lunch counter on a cool February afternoon that helped to spark the Greensboro sit-ins and ignited a wave of anti-segregation protests across the South during the civil rights movement. Molasses pie, meanwhile, captures the legacies of racial trauma and oppression passed down from America’s history of slavery, and Jell-O pie exemplifies the pressures and contradictions of gender roles in an evolving modern society. We all know the warm comfort of the so-called “All-American” apple pie . . . but just how did pie become the symbol of a nation?

In Sweet Land of Liberty: A History of America in 11 Pies, food writer Rossi Anastopoulo cracks open our relationship to pie with wit and good humor. For centuries, pie has been a malleable icon, co-opted for new social and political purposes. Here, Anastopoulo traces the pies woven into our history, following the evolution of our country across centuries of innovation and change. With corresponding recipes for each chapter and sidebars of quirky facts throughout, Sweet Land of Liberty is an entertaining, informative, and utterly charming food history for bakers, dessert lovers, and history aficionados alike. Ultimately, the story of pie is the story of America itself, and it’s time to dig in.

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Review

Pies? History? Where does one even start with that fantastic combination?

Anyone that knows me knows I love a good pie. I may not be able to bake them (or not well), but I do enjoy eating most pies. So when I was offered this book, I couldn’t wait to dive in and learn the history of how some pies came about and the part that they play in our country’s history.

There are 11 pies featured in this book: apple, pumpkin, molasses, sweet potato, pecan, chiffon, mock apple pie, Jell-o pie, bean pie, quiche, and tofu cream pie. Now, I’m sure you are looking at that list and recognize some but not all. That was me too. But as I dove into each chapter, I learned so much about how these pies came into existence. Some are more recent additions, like the Jell-o pie, and others have ties to events that divided us as a country, from racism to gender barriers.

While most of this book is the history of pies, never fear; there are recipes included. There is an all-butter pie crust recipe and at least one recipe from each of the 11 categories. I even know a blogger that made one of the pies crustless, and it looked divine.

While I am still making my way through each of the chapters, I am picking up nuggets of history that are fascinating and might make one think about pie in a whole new light.

Our past may not be perfect when it comes to what was represented regarding pie, but we can’t change history. We can only learn from it and endeavor to do better. I do feel like the author blames us today for what happened in the past when it came to how sugar was cultivated, what recipes were or weren’t included in cookbooks, and so forth. While it may not be right how certain people were treated 100+ years ago, we cannot change the past. Because of this perceived slant to the book, I deducted a paw and give this book 4 paws up.

About the Author

Rossi Anastopoulo is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in TASTE, Saveur, Food52, Bon Appetit, and Eaten Magazine. In 2019 she was the recipient of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) Award for Narrative Food Writing for her piece on the bean pie and the Nation of Islam. She works as the blog editor for King Arthur Baking Company, and is based in Los Angeles.

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