Fruit Pies, History, and Thanksgiving Day Recipes
Courtesy of the Florida Memory Project
I want to suggest some dishes for thanksgiving that have long been a part of American history-particularly the history of the south and its mixture of Native American, European, and African culinary traditions. Many of the recipes that I will share have been around since before 1776. Cobblers represent one the earliest desserts prepared on special occasion days like thanksgiving. They proved popular because they provided a way for poor people to collect often discarded very bruised and almost rotten old fruit to make a delicious inexpensive dessert. In the British Empire fruit like peaches, apples, and berries were traditionally considered food to be cooked and purchased by poor folks and commoners. The English lower classes essentially prepared two types of fruits: those cooked and those uncooked.. The English elites believed raw fruit was unhealthy and caused fevers. As a result, they generally stewed or baked fruit until it was very soft, often using it in pies and tarts. The migration of this tradition is best illustrated by the number of different recipes for cobblers (also called bucklers in Virginia) found in southern cookery.
