Pie facts for kids

Fruit pies from the Limburg region in the Netherlands

A pie is a yummy baked food. It usually has a pastry crust. This crust can be on the bottom, top, or all around the filling. Pies can be either savoury (like with meat or vegetables) or sweet (like with fruit). They are often round or oval in shape.

Pies are great because they can be cooked ahead of time. You can bake a pie days before you want to eat it! The crust helps keep the filling fresh if you store it in a cool place. You can enjoy a pie warm or cold, which makes them super versatile.

What Are Pies Made Of?

The Pastry Crust

Pies come in different styles based on their crust:

• "Filled" pies: Here, the pastry covers a dish, and the yummy filling sits on top of the pastry.
• "Top-crust" pies: The filling goes into a dish first, and then a pastry or mashed potato top covers it. Think of a shepherd's pie!
• "Two-crust" pies: The filling is completely wrapped inside the pastry shell, like a delicious present!

The Delicious Filling

The crust of a pie is usually made from pastry. But the inside can be filled with so many different things! You might find fruit, meat, fish, vegetables, cheeses, creams, chocolate, custards, nuts, or other sweet or savoury ingredients. The possibilities are almost endless!

Savoury Pies

Savoury pies are often eaten as a main meal. They are filled with ingredients like meat, vegetables, and gravy. Here are some popular savoury pies:

Bacon and egg pie Butter pie Chicken and mushroom pie Corned beef pie Cottage pie

Meat and potato pie—made with meat (usually beef) and potatoes Pasta pie Pizza pie Pork pie

Quiche Scotch pie Shepherd's pie (this one has a mashed potato crust, not pastry!) Stargazy pie Steak pie Steak and kidney pie

A pie made with fish

Sweet Pies

Sweet pies are perfect for dessert! Many sweet pies are very similar, with the main difference being the type of fruit used. Some "pies" are actually more like cakes, such as the Boston cream pie.

Apple pie Banoffee pie Banana cream pie Blackberry pie Blueberry pie Boston cream pie Buko pie Cheesecake Cherry pie Chocolate pie

Chess pie Cream pie Custard pie Dutch apple pie Key lime pie Lemon meringue pie Mince pie Mississippi Mud pie Mock apple pie

Peach pie Pecan pie Peanut butter pie Pumpkin pie Rhubarb pie, Strawberry-rhubarb pie Shoofly pie—a pie filled with molasses Strawberry pie Sweet potato pie

A blackberry pie

Pies Around the World

Different countries and cultures have their own special kinds of pies. It's fun to see how pies change from place to place!

Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand

A pie floater

Meat pies are super popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They often have fillings like steak and cheese, steak and kidney, minced beef, or chicken and mushroom. People often buy them as quick take-away snacks. You can also find them served with chips at British chip shops.

A "Wigan kebab" is a funny name for a pie placed inside a flour-covered bap (a type of bun). In London, people often enjoy "pie and mash" – a meat pie served with mashed potatoes and a green sauce. While most meat pies are served hot, pork pies are often eaten cold.

In Adelaide, Australia, there's a unique dish called the pie floater. This is a meat pie that floats in a plate of thick green pea soup!

North America

A slice cut from an apple pie

In North America, "pot pies" are a favourite. They have a flaky crust and bottom, filled with meat (like beef, chicken, or turkey), gravy, and mixed vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, and peas. You can often buy frozen pot pies in single-serving sizes.

Sweet fruit pies are often served with a scoop of ice cream on top. This is called à la mode. Apple pie is a classic choice for this. This way of serving pie became popular in the United States in the mid-1890s.

A tourtière is a meat pie that started in Quebec, Canada. It's usually made with ground pork, veal, or beef.

Other Countries

Here are some other interesting pies from around the world:

• Bisteeya is a sweet and savoury pie from Morocco. It has shredded chicken, ground almonds, and spices.
• Buko pie is a traditional Filipino pie filled with coconut.
• Pyrih is a Ukrainian pie. It can be sweet with cottage cheese or fruits like apples and plums. Savoury versions might have meat, fish, mushrooms, or cabbage.
• Torta caprese is an Italian chocolate and almond or walnut pie. It comes from the island of Capri.
• Torta de Santiago is an almond pie from the Galicia region in Spain. It's mostly made with ground almonds, eggs, and sugar.
• Vlaai is a pie from the Limburg region in the Netherlands. It comes with many different fruit fillings.
• Zelnik is a traditional Macedonian pastry. It has thin crusts filled with things like cheese and eggs, spinach, or crumbled meat.

Pie Fun

Cream-filled or topped pies are often used for jokes and fun, especially in movies and shows. Throwing a pie in someone's face has been a classic movie comedy trick for a long time. It's also often seen with clowns.

Sometimes, people called "pranksters" or "activists" throw pies at politicians or famous people. This act is called pieing. While it might seem funny, it can sometimes cause harm to people.

Images for kids

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  A 19th century painting showing a Roman feast, where pastry-covered meat dishes were served.

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  A close-up from Pieter Claesz' 1627 painting of a turkey pie.

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  Homemade meat pie with beef and vegetables.

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  A slice of cheese pie.

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  A chicken and lamb pie.

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  A traditional Cornish pasty filled with steak and vegetables.

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  A chicken pie with a traditional pie bird.

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  Pumpkin pie showing the texture of its surface.

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  Blackberry pie and ice cream.

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  Raisin pie with a lattice-style crust.

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  A pear-shaped pear pie made with puff pastry.

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  A slice of pecan pie.

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  Jeûne Genevois plum pie.

See also

In Spanish: Pie (tarta rellena) para niños