Regional Cuisine: As American As Apple Pie

By Samuel Murray


We love baseball, hot dogs,      cheese.                       
apple pie and Chevrolet or                                    
so an old ad for Chevrolet       In the Southern states, with  
tells us. Apple pie is as        their predilection for creamy,
American as well.. apple pie.    lightly spiced foods, the     
If baseball is the All-          most common apple pie recipes
American sport, then apple pie   include Apple Cream Pie made  
is the all-American dessert.     with sour cream and Apple     
And while the internet and       Bourbon Pie, with raisins     
book stores have spread the      soaked in bourbon. Raisins    
recipes far and wide, there      soaked in rum are another     
are classic apple desserts in    popular addition to 'apple    
every region that are            pie' in the South, especially
characteristic of the cuisine    in New Orleans. Other         
for that area. Wherever Johnny   additions include rhubarb,    
Appleseed spread orchards,       diced peaches and walnuts.    
there are recipes that make                                    
use of other regional            Midwestern Apple Pie is the   
ingredients and traditions to    classic apple pie two flaky  
create unique desserts with      crusts packed with thick,     
apples and whatever!            sweet, juicy apple slices     
                                 mounded high and vented to let
If you think of apple pie as     the fragrant steam escape. In 
having two crusts and a          Kansas or Missouri, your      
filling of apples combined       apple pie will satisfy any    
with sugar, brown sugar,         purist served with a scoop   
cinnamon and nutmeg, some of     of vanilla ice cream that     
the regional variations may      melts into the syrupy filling
surprise you. Apple cobbler,     and adds the perfect touch of
apple pandowdy, apple puff,      creaminess to the mix.        
apple crisp, apple brown betty                                 
are all variations of apple      In the South and Southwest    
pie in different regions. The    you'll find deep-fried apple  
prevailing apple recipes for     pie, a variation that matches
any region may be affected by    melt-in-your-mouth flaky fried
the variety of apple that's      crust with sweet, diced       
hardiest and most popular in     apples in a syrupy sauce. And
that area, as well as the        in Pennsylvania, the home of  
style of cuisine that's          the Pennsylvania Dutch, Apple
prevalent.                       Crumb Pie and Apple Pandowdy  
                                 take the place of Apple Pie a
In New England, for instance,    la Mode on most restaurant    
most apple recipes call for      menus.                        
Pippins, Granny Smith's or                                     
other firm fleshed, sweet        As American as Apple Pie     
varieties of apple that cook     from coast to coast, Americans
up well and lose little          have done what they do best   
moisture when being baked. In    taken a classic and adapted   
Maine, it's not uncommon to      it to suit the ingredients and
find blueberries in your apple   tastes that surround them.    
pie. In Massachusetts,           Whether you top it with a     
cranberry apple pie is a         sprinkle of cinnamon, a dollop
favorite. In Vermont, the        of whipped cream or a slice   
apples may be sweetened with     of sharp cheddar, there's no  
honey or maple syrup. And in     other food that comes close to
many restaurants on Cape Cod,    being the All-American        
rather than vanilla ice cream,   dessert.                      
your piping hot slice of                                       
heaven will be served topped                                   
with a slice of melting                                        

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