This is a must-try pie. You would never know the ingredients unless you made the pie. Food historians speculate on its name. The best explanation we’ve found is that long ago a happy eater asked the cook what was in this delicious pie that contained no recognizable fruits or flavored fillings, but had such a satisfying character. The cook thought a while and said there was nothing spectacular in it. It was “just pie,” which in the South sounds like “jes’ pie” and it eventually became chess pie.
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 tablespoon white vinegar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
¼ cup buttermilk
¼ teaspoon salt
1 unbaked (9-inch) Pastry Piecrust (recipe on page 340)
Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large bowl combine the sugar, flour, cornmeal, butter, white vinegar, vanilla, eggs, buttermilk, and salt. Mix well. Pour the mixture into the piecrust. Bake for 50 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before serving.
YIELD: 8 SERVINGS