Sweet Land of Liberty: A History of America in 11 Pies by Rossi Anastopoulo #Pie Baking #Abrams Press Publisher #Rossi Anastopoulo

 MY THOUGHTS AND BOOK REVIEW

With a humorous touch author Rossi Anastopoulo has done her research well on writing of this book. I find this book very deeply rooted with insights into history of USA through different pies. American cuisine is vast, deeply and multicultural. Pie was a deeply and traditionally American - direct product of the United States. It was the symbol of American innovation and identity that if a Black American could eat pie at a lunch counter in North Carolina or anywhere else in the south, he or she might be considered just equal an American citizen as anyone else. From the Black Muslim on the streets of  Brooklyn to the Midwest housewife struggling through the Great Depression in San Francisco every person in the US has memory or association with pie. The author points out why pie is such a unique vehicle for this type of social study. Firstly, pie as we know is ate in the United States doesn't exist anywhere else. Secondly, pie is such a barometer for American society - it is endlessly adaptable. Finally, pie is so powerful. 

Pumpkin Pie is eaten every year during Thanksgiving as it popped up by the mid 1800s. Mean while in Molasses pie, the country's history of slavery is captured of the worst crimes of the United States and the legacies of racial trauma and oppression being passed down. Mock apple pie pops up during two of the most severe economic crises US has faced. Apple pie originated on foreign shores, the dish arrived in the New World with British colonists before evolving with the early Unites States, arriving at nearly the same time as the US Constitution. Jell-O Coconut pie is a beauty besides it is quicker and easier as well as economical. 

The author describes how Apple pie's are wholesome and hearty how it emerged from a pie culture in the ancient Mediterranean. In America today versions of Dutch apple pie have endured, served as a distinct style covered typically with a crumb topping and cream added to the filling. Well, I enjoyed reading the published recipes that are delicious and yummy. It was interesting and informative study from the author Rossi to know how different pies evolved and were made during different times and eras of US history. 

I just reviewed Sweet Land of Liberty by Rossi Anastopoulo. Thanks to Abrams press publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy for my honest review.

Book Description 

From the pumpkin pie gracing the Thanksgiving table to the apple pie at the Fourth of July picnic, nearly every American shares a certain nostalgia for a simple circle of crust and filling. But America’s history with pie has not always been so sweet. After all, it was a slice of cherry pie at the Woolworth’s lunch counter on a cool February afternoon that helped to spark the Greensboro sit-ins and ignited a wave of anti-segregation protests across the South during the civil rights movement. Molasses pie, meanwhile, captures the legacies of racial trauma and oppression passed down from America's history of slavery, and Jell-O pie exemplifies the pressures and contradictions of gender roles in an evolving modern society. We all know the warm comfort of the so-called “All-American” apple pie . . . but just how did pie become the symbol of a nation?

     

In Sweet Land of Liberty: A History of America in 11 Pies, food writer Rossi Anastopoulo cracks open our relationship to pie with wit and good humor. For centuries, pie has been a malleable icon, co-opted for new social and political purposes. Here, Anastopoulo traces the pies woven into our history, following the evolution of our country across centuries of innovation and change. With corresponding recipes for each chapter and sidebars of quirky facts throughout, Sweet Land of Liberty is an entertaining, informative, and utterly charming food history for bakers, dessert lovers, and history aficionados alike. Ultimately, the story of pie is the story of America itself, and it’s time to dig in.   

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Abrams Press (October 25, 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1419754874
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1419754876