The decision to organize the recipes in this book seasonally was obvious: in the pie shop we bake pies according to the season and the ingredients available, and all our recipes revolve around that approach. Simple, logical—and that’s how our grandma did it too.
The idea of a seasonal pie shop was actually somewhat unusual to more than a handful of our customers in the early days—not to mention that we decided to unearth and update all kinds of old-fashioned recipes with weird names like “chess” and “black bottom” and use ingredients uncommon to New Yorkers, such as gooseberries and wild ginger. Some customers expected us to offer every kind of pie under the sun and to serve peach pies in December. We’ve taken it as an opportunity to share the knowledge that fruit (and all food, for that matter) in season and freshly picked tastes best and, by virtue of that, makes sense. Trends aside, this is how we grew up eating—with a bountiful garden in the summertime, and much of that bounty either frozen or home-canned for eating in the wintertime.
Fruit that is picked before it’s ripe, boxed, and shipped thousands of miles will never taste as good as fruit that’s grown nearby and picked at full ripeness. Make it your motto to bake pies when fruit is in season and to use the fruit that grows in your region. We know that it is sometimes impossible to get certain fruits in certain areas, so if you can’t get your hands on the fruit you really want to bake with locally, try experimenting with fruits you can get—substituting those that are similar in structure and water content. We do source some fruits such as citrus and figs from the West Coast, as it has an abundance of quality produce and it isn’t too far away—but, again, we purchase only what is in season there.
For each recipe we’ve suggested a crust pairing, and we tell you on which page the recipe for that crust appears. As a general rule, you will want to prepare your crust before starting on the filling. Many of our crust recipes (such as the All-Butter, the Lard & Butter, and the Chocolate All-Butter) can be made a week or more in advance and wrapped and frozen until you need them. Just thaw at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.
We encourage you to try different crusts with different pies; be experimental, and don’t be afraid to make your own adjustments and modifications. Add or take away, be inspired and let your creativity loose, for pie is nothing if not an endless playground for interpretation.