Green tomato pie
{{short description|Sweet pie made with green tomatoes}}
Green tomato pie is a pie in American cuisine that can be made like other fruit pies by sprinkling sugar, flour, cinnamon and other spices or raisins over sliced tomatoes and pieces of butter, or by simply cooking the ingredients on the stovetop before baking in a pastry-lined dish.{{cite news |title=Calling gardeners: Green (and red) tomato season is here |work=The Country Today (Eau Claire, Wisconsin) |date=August 24, 1994 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clippings/#user=9121243}}
Green tomato pie was commonly made as a mock apple pie or mock mincemeat pie in the 19th century.{{cite web |date=December 18, 2015 |title=Why Desperation Pies Are Making a Comeback |url=https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/article/vinegar-buttermilk-desperation-pies |website=Bon Appetit}} When cinnamon and cloves are added to the filling, the unripe tomatoes are said to resemble tart apples or rhubarb. The mincemeat variation is made by cooking green tomatoes with sugar and apples, vinegar, raisins and spices until thickened; this sweet pie is said to be indistinguishable in flavor from traditional mincemeat pie. Some versions add orange peel, jelly, fruit juice or butter.{{cite news |title=Recipe roundup |work=The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois) |date=November 24, 1982 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61063138/green-tomato-pie/}}
The pastry for the pie crust may be made with bacon drippings.{{cite web |title=Green Tomato Skillet Pie |url=https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/green-tomato-pie |website=Southern Living}}
History
Green tomato pies, and cooking with underripe green tomatoes in general, were more common in 19th-century American cooking than they are in the present day, and this sweet pie is less common than the savoury southern tomato pie.{{cite news |title=A sweet and savory treat at The Basics has sparked the hashtag, #TomatoPieTuesdays |work=Star News Online |date=June 5, 2019 |url=https://www.starnewsonline.com/foodanddining/20190528/so-i-tried-green-tomato-pie-la-mode-at-basics}} The cookbook Buckeye Cookery (1877) has a recipe for a basic green tomato pie and a similar recipe is found in the White House Cook Book (1887).{{cite book |last=McWilliams |first=Mark |title=The Story Behind the Dish: Classic American Foods |date=2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0gdNLAGknGMC&pg=PA94}}
19th-century recipes for green tomato pie were made similar to apple pie, with sliced tomatoes and sugar baked in a pastry crust, sometimes with water, flour, molasses, cinnamon and lemon zest or vinegar added.{{cite news |title=Green tomato pie |work=Racine journal |date=January 1, 1879 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61196622/green-tomato-pie/}}{{cite news |title=Green tomato pie |work=Lewistown Gazette (Lewistown, Pennsylvania) |date=September 9, 1858 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61196645/green-tomato-pie-1858/}}{{cite news |title=Green tomato pie |work=Mineral Point Weekly Tribune (Mineral Point, Wisconsin |date=October 7, 1875 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61196669/green-tomato-pie/}} Green tomatoes were a common substitute for apples during the summer in the 19th century, and are more consistent in tartness and texture than apples.
References
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{{American pies}}
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