# mcdonald's apple pie = turnips ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 7, 2001, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876 "2001-10-07T03:11:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kevin\_Partida](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Kevin\_Partida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevin_Partida)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/1 "2001-10-07T03:11:09Z")
my g/f is positive that McDonald’s baked apple pies do not contain apples, but rather turnips. I told her it is just an urban myth, but I would like to find the answer out for sure. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Qwisp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qwisp/32/397_2.png) [@Qwisp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwisp)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/2 "2001-10-07T03:55:21Z")
From the Mcdonalds web site > [@](#): > > Baked Apple Pie: > Apples, corn syrup, sugar, water, modified corn starch, sorbitol, dextrose, brown sugar, sodium alginate, spices, citric acid, salt, dicalcium phosphate. In a pastry consisting of: Enriched bleached wheat flour (niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), vegetable shortening (partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil), water, sugar, less than 2% of salt, yeast, l-cysteine (dough conditioner), lecithin. Topping: sugar, spice, partially hydrogenated soybean oil. ---
**Author:** ![Xgemina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/b5e925/32.png) [@Xgemina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xgemina)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/3 "2001-10-07T03:55:39Z")
Remember this mantra **Kevin** , Snopes is your friend (you’ll hear it alot at the SDMB). Anyway check out this: [http://www.snopes.com/horrors/food/mcdshake.htm](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/food/mcdshake.htm) Here’s the pertinant part: > [@](#): > > A more innocent McDonalds dessert rumor concerns their apple turnovers. Some have heard that McD’s doesn’t use real apples in them – the “fruit” filling is really potatoes, pears, or maybe even crackers. > > Shockingly, the primary ingredient in McDonald’s apple pies is apple. Rumors of this nature play on the idea that the big, bad corporation will happily attempt to slip a less expensive substitute past a consumer whenever it can. Belief in this particular whisper is bolstered by memories of oddball recipes for “mock apple pie” culled from old cooking books wherein the “mock apples” were Ritz crackers. You can find the info at the bottom of the page. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/4 "2001-10-07T04:04:36Z")
While we’re on the subject, why the _hell_ would anybody want to make mock apple pie? I found a recipe here: [http://www.nabiscoworld.com/Ritz/ri\_recipes.htm](http://www.nabiscoworld.com/Ritz/ri_recipes.htm) and it looks like the damn thing wouldn’t taste remotely like apple pie. Was there an apple shortage at some time that made people want to make this? How did this travesty come into being? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/5 "2001-10-07T05:03:45Z")
The original “mock apple pie” was made with cracker barrel crackers, i.e. saltines. It’s a traditional pioneer recipe–how to make a sweet dessert with nothing but crackers and sorghum. And everybody concerned understood perfectly well that it wasn’t intended to reproduce the flavor and texture of apples–it was only intended to put edible food on the table. ---
**Author:** ![RAWisSYDNEY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4491bb/32.png) [@RAWisSYDNEY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWisSYDNEY)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/6 "2001-10-07T11:04:39Z")
i dont care if it is, it still tastes nice. Now the Burger King Apple pies, theres a bad taste. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/7 "2001-10-07T19:23:16Z")
The thing I love about the fast food URBAN MYTHS is ask anyone who works there. No matter what the ingredients list they will always say “NO THAT ISN’T TRUE.” All of them KNOW that it’s not REALLY that. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/8 "2001-10-07T23:48:31Z")
My guess would be a mock apple pie would be something that was soft, but crusty, with lots of cinnamon. Now, my grandmother made an “apple” crisp-with ZUCHINI!!! I shit you not. And it was actually really good-you couldn’t tell the difference. ---
**Author:** ![geepee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ebca7d/32.png) [@geepee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geepee)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/9 "2001-10-07T23:53:56Z")
mock apple pies , would be common in WWII when everything had to be imported into england except for what you could grow and these being stuff like turnips and other root crops i recall a banana sandwich made from turnips softened by boiling and with added bannana flavour (one could be obtained with the luxuries in the ration coupons) , USA has never really had something like this except maybe during the great depression so , that is probably why you think there would be no need ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/10 "2001-10-07T23:55:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > \*\*The original “mock apple pie” was made with cracker barrel crackers, i.e. saltines. It’s a traditional pioneer recipe–how to make a sweet dessert with nothing but crackers and sorghum. > > And everybody concerned understood perfectly well that it wasn’t intended to reproduce the flavor and texture of apples–it was only intended to put edible food on the table. \*\* So why the hell call it “mock apple pie”? Did they have writer’s block and couldn’t think of anything else? Did they almost call it “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Apple Pie”? ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/11 "2001-10-08T00:02:01Z")
With regard to the McShakes, lots of ice-cream in here in Britain used to be labelled “non-dairy” as it was (I understand) made mainly from pork fat and certain other pig-related substances… In fact, one of the best known ice-cream brands here in the UK is ‘Walls’, who are also famous for their… sausages. Yum! – Quirm ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/12 "2001-10-08T03:45:35Z")
Revtim, have you ever heard the phrase, “To make a virtue of necessity”? They were half-starving pioneers, so instead of saying, “We’ve got nothing to eat but crackers tonight”, they said, “Hey, we’ve got Mock Apple Pie for supper!” ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/13 "2001-10-08T04:05:01Z")
/slight hijack/ I grow a vegetable garden every summer. And EVERY year, I get WAY too much zucchini. Often, if I don’t check the plants every day, I’ll wind up with a few as big as my forearm! Well, with one of those huge zucchini, GrizzWife made a fantastic (and I mean FAN-DARN-TASTIC!) mock apple pie. She didn’t use apples because we grew the zucchini ourselves, didn’t want it to go to waste, and thought it’d be a fun way to “see if this works”. It’s great while still warm, with vanilla ice cream! /slight hijack/ As to the McDonald’s apple pies containing turnips instead, are turnips REALLY that much cheaper than apples? ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/14 "2001-10-08T04:41:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by geepee \* > \*\*…USA has never really had something like this except maybe during the great depression so , that is probably why you think there would be no need \*\* I dunno, people do crazy things. As a little lad growing up (in New Zealand, and hardly in the grip of a great depression), I can vividly remember my mother making a huge batch of _Strawberry Jam_, using some off-the-shelf product and an enormous quantity of tomatoes. Vividly remember; 25 years later. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/15 "2001-10-08T13:35:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > \*\*Revtim, have you ever heard the phrase, “To make a virtue of necessity”? They were half-starving pioneers, so instead of saying, “We’ve got nothing to eat but crackers tonight”, they said, “Hey, we’ve got Mock Apple Pie for supper!” \*\* Or, they could have said “We have Aunt Millie’s Gahagafaga tonight!” or some other new name and not use an invalid comparison. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/16 "2001-10-08T15:15:59Z")
Since we’re already hijacking this thing to oblivion… I have a cookbook put out my my grandma’s church. Think dozens of little old dutch ladies in Iowa sharing their church potluck recipes. One of the recipes is for “mock chicken casserole.” It involves using hamburger and cream of chicken soup and other ingredients so that the end result, presumably, tastes more like chicken than beef. I have all kinds of “why?” questions related to this recipe. Most of which will probably never be answered. Another question that will never be answered is “What does this dish taste like?” I plan on never having an opportunity to find out. ---
**Author:** ![snac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90db22/32.png) [@snac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snac)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/17 "2001-10-08T15:24:08Z")
Then there was mock turtle soup…which was not made from Mock Turtles at all, Lewis Carroll notwithstanding. Knowing just about nothing about the history of mock turtle soup, I would nevertheless guess that the “mock” idea is a pretty old one. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/18 "2001-10-08T18:16:21Z")
Also, remember that year-'round apples are a pretty recent phenomenon, dependent on cheap, reliable, refrigerated storage (for domestic crops) and cheap, reliable, refrigerated transport for foreign. I’m only 33, but I recall that when I was growing up the only year-rounders were red and golden “delicious” - hardly suitable for pie, and barely acceptable for eating out of hand. Mock apple pie made a lot more sense. [hijack] I’ve been amazed at how many apples you can get these days - Fuji, Braeburn, Gala, Pink Lady, Cameo, Mutsu - and where they come from! Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand…free trade for all, says I.[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Turbo\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Turbo\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turbo_Dog)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/19 "2001-10-08T19:44:16Z")
My mom also used to make “apple” pie, cobbler, sauce and jelly out of zuchinni and you couldn’t tell the difference even when you knew what you were eating. I imagine you could use turnips and do the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876/20 "2001-10-08T20:26:43Z")
Ma Ingalls also made “apple” pie from green pumpkin during The Long Winter. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-apple-pie-turnips/85876.md?page=2)