Introduction
An apple pie is an American dish which has apples as its principal filling ingredients. Apple pies originated from Europe-England. It was introduced in North America in the 17th century. Europeans had been baking apple pies for many years before it was introduced in America. The dish gained more popularity in the 19th century. By mid 1940s, the dish became a national dish in America. The dish lacked popularity because America was not a producer of apples. This made it difficult for the Americans to bake the dish. By late 19th century, the dish had become common in America. However, one challenge that came with the introduction of the dish in America was the lack of people to incorporate it in their cultural dishes. People perceived it as a foreign dish and they preferred their native dishes to the apple pie. This historical research shows the origin of apple pie and how it has been adopted in America.
14th century pies did not contain any sugar. Sugar was very scarce and expensive. This made it hard for the bakers to prepare the dish as the cost of sugar would be translated to consumers. In turn, this would make the dish expensive to buy. Lack of sugar in the apple pies decreased the demand for the pies. Many people preferred dishes with sugar due to their sweetness. The pastry of the pie was not edible as it is with the modern apple pies. They served as containers of the pie and were disposed after consumption. The recent bakers of the dish lacked a comprehensive recipe book to assist them in their baking. This decreased the number of apple pies baked. The first cookbook was compiled about 1390 A.D by King Richard II. He presented the cook book to Queen Elizabeth. According to historians presentation of this book was one of the records of the apple pie.
English colonialists introduced apple pies in North America in the mid 1960s. When they first came in America, they found crab apples which could not be used to make the apple pies. Crab apples were native apples to Americans at the time. The English settlers brought with them customs and their native apples. The English settlers ordered apple seeds from England and planted orchards apples in America. By 1640s, orchards had been established in America. By the end of 17th century, the majority of land owners in America planted apple trees. Apple trees became more prevalent by the beginning and mid 18th century. This increased the yield of apples in America making it easy to make apple pies.
However, some of the American people did not accept the dish as it was not a native dish in America. Most of these people urged that they could not incorporate the dish in their cultural dishes. They urged that the fact that it was brought to America by colonialists made it a more modern and borrowed dish. They further urged that the apples used to make apple pies were not native hence they could not include the apple pies in their list of cultural dishes.
America became the world’s leading apple producer. This increased apple yield in the country and hence the apple pie became a common dish in America. Apples became a common fruit in America due to the prevalence of apple growing. Many large farm owners in America embarked on apple planting. Increased yield of apples provided enough raw materials for the food industries which manufactured apple pies. Apple pies became a cheap dish for bakers to prepare. Its increased demand made the bakers prefer it to other dishes. There were increased bakeries in America due to the increased demand for these apple pies.
Despite the fact that orchard apples were not native fruits in America, the country has become a leading export of these fruits. Consumption of apple pies has also increased in America as compared to other countries. This increased consumption has been largely due to the increased yield of apples in America. Advancement of technology in Africa has also increased consumption of the pies in America. America has modern technology which is used in many bakeries. This increased the process of production of apple pies, and, in turn, increasing production of apple pies in the country.
America sells these pies both locally and internationally. This has increased consumption of these pies globally, with America being the leading producer. America has in the recent past been associated with apple pies as they are the leading producers.
Conclusion
Apple pie is a dish that has been in America. It originated from England. It was brought to America by the English settlers. The dish was not common in America as orchard apples, a major raw material for the bakers, was not grown in America. These settlers brought orchard seeds and planted them in America. Since then, many Americans have grown these apple trees. This has increased yield of apples and hence increased apple pies in America. The English settlers came with the cookbooks which provided recipes for baking apple pies. The Americans have since adopted the cookbooks. They have also advanced these cookbooks to accommodate for changes in technology. Apple pies have become a common dish in America. This is because America has become a leading export of apples. Apple pies have also gained popularity because they are cheap to buy. It is also cheap for bakers to make them. To date, many Americans are consuming this dish. This has made apple pies n American dish.
Bibliography
Edge, John T. Apple Pie: An American Story. New York: Putnam Adult, 2004.
Apple Pie: An American Story. Michigan: Thorndike Press, 2005.
Smith, Andrew F. The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
