Eyeing Pies

Mystipie – the confusion experienced when you no longer know what is a pie and what is something else...

Two (other) things confuse me about pies (and pie-like items), although these are only the beginning of all sorts of other food-related ponderings that have been cropping up lately...

Firstly, galettes – I’d always thought of these as a French buckwheat crepe with a filling in, but there seems to be a variety of galette which is a rustic type of tart. They look delicious (and rustic baking is always a personal favourite!) but have me a little concerned that, when venturing to Paris, I may be ordering an entirely unintended galette. A little like the risk of ordering sweetbreads instead of veal risotto, perhaps*, but with far less squeamish consequences.

Picture: Fig, prosciutto and thyme galettes from Citrus & Candy (top of the list of galettes to try, this one... looks so tasty!)

Picture: Peach, blueberry and lemon thyme galettes from Tartelette

The other curious pie item I’ve recently come across is hand pies. Are they so called because they’re made by hand? Or the size that fits conveniently in your hand? Or because they don’t sit in a pie dish? Is it, perhaps, a little of columns A, B and C? And how is a hand pie different to a pasty? It seems to be a much subtler distinction than, say, between a raven and a writing desk...

Picture: Apple and hatch green chile hand pies from Bless Her Heart

Picture: Prosciutto and cheese hand pies from Not So Humble Pie

On a tenuously related note, all this thinking about pies gives me an excuse to share what I think is a very cool (in a geek chic way) necklace...

Pi necklace: RGB Laboratory (I like that the numbering starts at the back, so from the front it just looks like a random sequence of numbers...)

* Beware the ris de veau...