An orange chocolate tart. Lovely!
In this corner, wearing the short, sandy trunks: CHOOOOOC-O-lit TAAArrrt! And in this corner, wearing the long, flaky trunks: AAAApul PIIIIEEEEEE!
Pie versus tart; tart versus pie. What is the deal, exactly? I read a blog post the other day about a pie pan. My first thought was, rather rudely, “big deal,” as I listened to (read) the blogger’s waxing rhapsodic about this pie pan, but then I read further. Seems she is in England. Special, deep dish fruit pie pie pans aren’t as common there as in the US. Now I was ashamed of myself for being so flippant. She had to special order from over the deep blue sea! No wonder she was excited; I would’ve been, too–genuine imported baking stuff! Hooray!
Because I am a helper, I went to Amazon.com and searched “pie” in Home & Garden. There were just shy of 4000 results. The same search in Kitchen & Home at Amazon.co.uk yielded just over 700. Just for fun, I went to Amazon.fr and searched “pie” in Cuisine & Maison. 42 results, most of which were little key chains with pictures of pieces of pie on them. Interesante, non?
Americans definitely seem to be pie-obsessed. So, what exactly is the difference between a pie and a tart? This was one of a handful of burning questions that I took with me on my first day of culinary school. On pie v tart lecture day, I craned eagerly forward, waiting for the answer to this pastry mystery. Gotta tell you, folks–I was in for a bit of a let-down. Turns out, the explanation was….murky. Here’s how it went down: “Tarts have short, thick-ish, straight sides. Pies have deeper, thinner, slightly sloped sides. Tart pans look different than pie pans.” This is where I began some serious internal muttering. “Pies have flaky crusts, but not all the time. Tarts have sandy, crumbly crusts. Usually. Tarts don’t have a top crust. Pies either do, or they don’t.” Seriously?! “Tart crust tastes better than pie crust because it’s an integral part of the dish. The pie crust is just there to hold the filling. Since tarts don’t have a top crust, the fillings are beautifully arranged. Sometimes pies are pretty.” Are you kidding me?! “Since tarts have a higher crust to filling ratio, tart fillings are often richer than pie fillings. But not necessarily. And there are always exceptions to any rule. And, why is your face so red, Ms. Field?”
The good news is: I neither lunged over the table at her nor cursed exceptionally loudly. The bad news is: I needed more structure than that! I still didn’t know the difference between a pie and a tart after a whole class about it!! Deep breaths….deeeep breaths……..And now, after YEARS of therapy, I have settled down quite a bit.
Since there are no hard and fast rules, other than height, my therapist helped me to I see the difference between the two as more of a qualitative one. I also approach it from an American point of view. You know, cuz that’s where I’m from and all. To me, tarts feel a little more elegant than pies. Most pies are homey and comforting, but often good old American pies are all about excess. How many bananas can I cram into that pie? How high can I swirl that meringue? Peanut butter and chocolate and marshmallow cream and toffee pieces? Awesome! American big-ass fruit and cream pies are the Hummers of the pastry world. Bigger and richer than they have any right to be, and unapologetic about it. Regular American non-steroidal pies are sedans: ample, but not showy; sensible. Tarts are European sports cars: the perfect marriage of form and function delivered in a relatively small, precision package.
Tart dough is rich, sandy and flavorful, and the fillings are generally made to complement or contrast with the crust nicely. With a tart, it’s about balance. Pie dough can be tasty, but it’s really more about texture than flavor with a pie crust. You either want it to not get soggy, or you want it to be flaky. Flavor? Meh; whatever.
If I were going to make a fruit dessert, I’d probably opt for the pie. If I were in the mood for a chocolate dessert, I might go for the tart. It just depends on how I feel. And the Smackdown Results? Sort of an anticlimactic draw, I’m afraid.
Speaking of smackdowns, I wanted to touch on competence versus creativity again for just a minute. There were some really insightful comments about that post. A couple of people said that they were creative but that they couldn’t draw. I knew it! Another comment said that, and I’m paraphrasing, creativity stems from complete competence. You have to have a deep and complete understanding of the basics before you are confident enough to get creative with your cooking. I like that a lot. For most people who aren’t savants, competence in the kitchen is a way station along the path to creativity in the kitchen. There’s nothing wrong with the way station. In fact, the food there is really tasty. Some folks decide to stay. But one cook’s destination is another cook’s stopover. And that cook, with a secure hold on competence, follows his creative impulses to points beyond.
Really, guys–thanks for all the food for thought. I’m enjoying the dialog.
Okay, so Chris settled on an apple tart. I’ll be wandering over there to Beyond Ramen to see what it looks like when it’s posted. (I just went over there–not yet). Will it have any resemblance to an apple pie? I guess we’ll find out.
