I wish we could get decent blueberries over here. They are pushed here as a "super food" and very good for you.
But they are packed in tiny 4 ounce punnets and costing about £2. (£1 = $1.50) They are also air-freighted half way round the world and chilled to within an inch of their lives. Result - they taste of absolutely nothing.
As for pies. In the Middle Ages the pastry was often only there as a lid to seal the pot of a stew which was going to cook for a long time in the embers of the fire and it was either discarded or given to the poor or the dogs.
In the Cornish tin mining areas the "Cornish pasty " (meat, onion, swede and potato in a folded over "D"-shaped pastry case sealed at the side -
Cornish Pasty – Historical Information – Cornish Pasty Association
). It is said that the pastry needed to be hard enough to stand up to being thrown down the mine shaft to the miner at lunch time! That story may be apocryphal or the result of some poor miner having a wife with little skill with pastry! In other areas, such as Northamptonshire, similar pasties were often very big with a savoury filling at one end and apple or other sweet filling in the other.
Strawberries, raspberries or blackberries go well with apples in a pie (but not at this time of year, obviously) and quinces if you grow them. My grandmother used to make a (usually Cheshire) cheese and apple pie but I never tasted it as I didn't like cheese as a child.
In the north of England 'tater pie is much loved, especially by the older generation and children. It had potatoes, meat and veg in it as well - the amount of meat varying according to what the housewife could afford on the day. Nowadays it's a favourite dish at fund-raising suppers at church or pubs or clubs and voluntary organisations
I've some pizza dough rising in the kitchen -
would that count for Pie Day?
