Pie Therapy
When winter blues descend, sometimes the best medicine comes wrapped in pastry.
I stood in the kitchen this morning, staring outside for 8-12 minutes. Where had the mountains gone? Would they ever re-emerge from their hiding place behind that thick gray veil that's kept them hidden for weeks?
Nature is hibernating, too, apart from the magpies and crows. They seem unaffected by winter's slow pace as they jump around on a neighbor's roof, clearly interested in something...and they have plenty to say about it.
Have they found a tasty mealworm worth fighting over? Perhaps – until I see a crow land nearby with a chunk of bread in its beak, no doubt an innocent offering from a well-meaning neighbor that sparks concern inside me. “Leftover bread is not bird food,” I suddenly wanted to scream from my balcony. Alas I resisted; I knew my words would fly into the empty gray.
Maybe an orange would be more satisfying to the magpies hopping around next to the larger crow. I sensed they would be on the orange slices instantly, flying away to deposit the goods in their nearby nest.
This avian drama offers a welcome distraction from the intermittent coughing that's plagued me for two weeks. More than that, it awakens a familiar yearning -- one that often visits me while watching mischievous magpies: the desire to make pie.
The connection isn't as random as it might seem. The very word "pie" shares its roots with these chattering birds outside my window. Since the 1500s, magpies have been intertwined with the concept of pie – their name evolving from the Latin "pica" for bird, with "mag" likely derived from "Margaret" or simply meaning "chatterer." Our modern understanding of pie – filling entirely enclosed in dough – mirrors the magpie's famous hoarding nature, as opposed to a simple pastry with ingredients resting on top. Like those clever birds outside my window, I too was about to become a hoarder of winter's treasures.
Pie is what I was suddenly yearning for. I wanted to create a flaky pastry I could hold in my hand that was filled with earthy goodness – something that would remind me of my connection to nature...and magpies.
I focused on a rich assortment of mushrooms paired with cabbage – an ideal match during the cold weather months that have experienced a frost or two and allowed the cabbage to convert its starch to natural sugars. I wanted a big punch of savory to burst through the gaps in my teeth. I wanted a hot pie to sit on my cold hands. I wanted flaky bits of pastry crumbs to adorn the front of my shirt.
As if in response to my pie-making trance, a magpie lands on my balcony railing. Behind it, the gray veil begins to tear, revealing a beautiful little patch of blue. On this day, pie is not just a choice – it became a destiny.
Vegan Pastry Dough
The journey to a perfect vegan pastry dough was a pilgrimage of patience. Early attempts yielded dense, leaky disappointments until experimentation led to revelation: a French-style pie dough that delivers the holy trinity of pastry – flaky, crispy, and light. The secret lies in understanding fat's crucial role in 'shortening' gluten formation. Work with light hands, as if you're barely disturbing the ingredients. Let them come together naturally, like winter slowly giving way to spring.
Mushroom and Cabbage Pasty
These hand-held comforts are winter's answer to cold bones and gray skies. Like the seasons themselves, they adapt to what's available - though the marriage of mushrooms and cabbage creates something particularly magical – earthy, sweet, and deeply satisfying. Steam escapes from the golden crust like winter's first warm breath. While this combination feels particularly right during the colder months, consider it a template for endless seasonal variations. The only constants are a filling that holds together and steam vents that allow the pie to breathe, much like the small breaks in winter's clouds that remind us of blue skies above.
Allow 45 minutes to make the filling, 30 minutes to prepare the pies, and 90 minutes to chill and bake the pies.
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Do you have a pie or pastry favorite?
I often crave a sweet or savory pie or pastry. The variations seem infinite and entirely adaptable to season changes and ingredients.
I would like to hear from you. Do you have a favorite variation or two – something you make every year? Are your creations based on a particular cultural influence?
Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
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Something to consider
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I'm a huge fan of anything wrapped in pastry during the colder months, and here in Goa, the search for the best samosa continues....and this is an especially beautifully written piece, Jack - really enjoyed it.
My immediate thought of the association between birds and pies, is the nursery rhyme line, “four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie, and when the pie was opened the birds began to sing, so wasn’t that a dainty dish to set before the king”
You pasties sound delicious Jack.