- How about a heady slice of stargazy pie?
Happy International Pi Day! Get it? Because it’s 3/14 and pi is 3.14.
Look, we didn’t come up with it, okay? This celebration of the mathematical constant has been around in some form since 1988.
Math is kind of boring, though, so it’s become a tradition to celebrate Pi Day by baking a pie. Get it? Because “pie” sounds like “pi.”
Maybe this should’ve been the day of bad puns instead. Anyhow, if you’re baking a pie today, don’t settle for the same old apple pie. Take some inspiration from these seven strange pies.
7. Vinegar Pie
If you’re from certain parts of the U.S., you might think we’re trying to pick a fight here. It’s true, though — outside your home turf, a vinegar pie is a very strange concept.
A vinegar pie is a type of desperation pie, or a pie made by substituting certain more expensive ingredients with something more readily available. They’ve been common in America during economic hardship, like during the Great Depression.
In the case of vinegar pie, the aim is to imitate the sour taste of lemons by replacing them with vinegar. It doesn’t work that well in the sense that the pie really doesn’t taste anything like lemons.
The good news, though, is that vinegar pie is actually a tasty treat in its own right. Which is probably why it’s a regional American specialty.
6. Alphabet Pie
The cookbook 250 Superb Pies and Pastries from 1941 is a treasure trove of… Shall we say, questionable pie recipes. But one of the most bizarre is the alphabet pie.
This recipe results in a type of pear pudding pie, which doesn’t sound unappetizing in itself. But then you look at the ingredient list and notice it includes a half cup of alphabet noodles.
And they’re dyed red with melted cinnamon candies.
Look, go ahead and give it a try if you want. We’ll pass.
5. Cheeseburger Pickle Pie
Now, this is just a recipe we found online, so it’s not like cheeseburger pickle pie is any kind of a widespread phenomenon (that we know of). But the existence of the recipe — and the positive reviews — prove that people have baked this pie.
It’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like: ground beef and pickles in a pie crust, topped with cheese. We suppose it can’t be that bad since it’s basically just a deconstructed cheeseburger.
But did the cheeseburger really need to be turned into a pie? Apparently yes, if the aforementioned glowing reviews are anything to go by.
4. Lamprey Pie
Lampreys are jawless, bloodsucking primitive fish living in both fresh and salt water. And the British like to bake them into a pie — because what don’t they bake into a pie?
The thought of lampreys might make you shudder, but they’re actually really tasty. The meaty flavor is vaguely similar to a nice steak, so a lamprey pie only sounds like a bad idea until you eat it.
As a fun fact, a lamprey pie is a traditional part of the meal served at the British monarch’s coronation. When you think of royal ascendance, do you think of lampreys? Maybe you should.
3. Flipper Pie
The flipper pie is a traditional pie from Canada, specifically Newfoundland and Labrador. If you thought the name refers to flipping the pie during cooking, you’d be wrong.
It’s very literal — the name comes from the main ingredient, which is harp seal flippers. The flippers are generally gathered during the annual spring seal hunt, so the pie is generally only available in April and May.
Harp seals are not endangered and can be legally hunted, but the pie does serve as a source of controversy. It’s supposed to taste quite nice, though, so if you find yourself in Newfoundland and can stomach the thought of eating a seal, give it a try.
2. Stargazy Pie
Let’s get back to Britain, the land of bizarre pies. And they don’t get much weirder than the stargazy pie from Cornwall.
The pie is baked with whole pilchards — that is, sardines. Although a fish pie isn’t all that weird, the sardines are arranged so that their heads poke out from the crust.
That’s where the name comes from since the fish are gazing up at the stars. If you ever give stargazy pie a try, make sure not to gaze too long into pie, lest the pie gaze back into you.
1. Surprise Pie
Surprise pies used to be all the rage from the medieval period to the Renaissance and even beyond. But what surprises could the pie hold?
The answer is living things.
Surprise pies are empty pie crusts holding some kind of a live animal or even a person. They might have birds or snakes in them and, in some cases, even people.
One story, for example, tells of a surprise pie served to English King Charles I in 1626. Out of the pie popped a person with dwarfism, clad in full knight’s armor and dubbed “Lord Minimus.”
That’s in pretty bad taste by modern standards. The point is, though, that surprise pies weren’t for eating but simply for the spectacle.