# Strawberry Rhubarb Pie - rare in parts of the US?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 28, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006 "2013-11-28T15:27:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@hussle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hussle)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/1 "2013-11-28T15:27:30Z")
I caught the last few minutes of a show called “fox Football Daily” I believe. It had the talking heads from Fox on it at least (Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Jimmy Johnson, someone else), and they mentioned something about popular Desserts for US Thanksgiving, one of which was Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. They all became outraged at the thought of this pie, and all of them said they had not even tried this pie or even heard of it, some actually saying they were angry about its inclusion.
So my question is about this delicious pie, the best pie out there…is it unavailable/unheard of in vast swaths of the US? If so what parts? The south?
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/2 "2013-11-28T15:36:24Z")
I’m from the Midwest (Chicago), and I grew up with a neighbor growing both strawberry and rhubarb and making her pies. They were awesome. Or even just plain rhubarb pie.
But for Thanksgiving? That’s weird. November is way past the season for both. Not that shopping need be seasonal anymore, but I don’t even see rhubarb in my grocery stores most of the year–only the late spring into maybe mid-summer.
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### Author:  [@hussle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hussle)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/3 "2013-11-28T15:38:34Z")
They were outraged about its inclusion in what I believe was a “most popular Thanksgiving Dessert List”, but all 4 guys said they had NEVER tried it, nor heard of it. Thanksgiving or not, that just sounded crazy to me.
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### Author:  [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/4 "2013-11-28T15:40:43Z")
Strawberry rhubarb is a spring pie. It’s an abomination to serve it in November.
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### Author:  [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/5 "2013-11-28T15:42:01Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#):
>
> Strawberry rhubarb is a spring pie. It’s an abomination to serve it in November.
This. And it’s very common around here, as well as strawberry-rhubarb jam.
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### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/6 "2013-11-28T15:44:07Z")
Moved to Cafe Society from General Questions.
**samclem** , moderator
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### Author:  [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/7 "2013-11-28T15:46:54Z")
It’s a great combination. I like it better then apple or cherry, definitely better then pumpkin. Problem is my rhubarb is hibernating under the snow.
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### Author:  [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/8 "2013-11-28T15:48:21Z")
I’ve not had it, but I see it all the time in New England and New York.
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### Author:  [@hussle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hussle)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/9 "2013-11-28T15:53:10Z")
Why do seasons matter? Do you only make pie out of fresh ingredients? I would be shocked if this was the norm.
It is, by far, my favourite pie. So far it seems everyone has heard of it, but I am not sure the locations. Anyone not even heard of it?
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/10 "2013-11-28T15:57:08Z")
I can understand (if not necessarily agree with) getting outraged by the lack of a particular food at Thanksgiving, but how can one be outraged by its inclusion? Surprise, sure, if it’s something your family doesn’t associate with the season, or maybe puzzlement, if it’s a food you haven’t heard of before… but outrage?
Anyway, my family’s from western PA, and strawberry rhubarb pie is certainly familiar to us. Our Thanksgiving tradition with respect to pies, meanwhile, is “as many as possible, of as many varieties as possible”, so if one were able to get the makings for strawberry rhubarb pie in November, it would fit right in.
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### Author:  [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/11 "2013-11-28T15:59:10Z")
It’s on the menu year-round in the upper Midwest. Both strawberries and rhubarb freeze very well, so there’s no need to depend on supermarkets. I don’t know that it’s any more prevalent during Thanksgiving and wouldn’t consider it a traditional holiday dessert.
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/12 "2013-11-28T16:02:27Z")
I’m looking at one right now, hot out of the oven.
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### Author:  [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/13 "2013-11-28T16:10:58Z")
> [@hussle](#):
>
> So my question is about this delicious pie, the best pie out there…is it unavailable/unheard of in vast swaths of the US? If so what parts? The south?
I think I was in my late teens or early 20s the first time I ever heard of strawberry rhubarb pie and had a piece. It was an excellent pie and it is always welcome at my table.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/14 "2013-11-28T16:19:32Z")
> [@hussle](#):
>
> Why do seasons matter? Do you only make pie out of fresh ingredients? I would be shocked if this was the norm.
I don’t make a lot of pies, but when I do, it’s usually with in-season ingredients. It’s not always so much the availability of good ingredients (although with strawberries, I think it’s tantamount), but I also associate certain foods with certain times of year. I have never seen strawberry-rhubarb pie at Thanksgiving. Pumpkin pie or sweet potato pie? Yes. Rhubarb pie? No. And even though I make pumpkin pie from a can most of the time, I don’t eat that in the spring, either. I just don’t have those associations with those foods.
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### Author:  [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/15 "2013-11-28T16:21:01Z")
The first and only time I’ve ever seen (and eaten a slice of) a strawberry rhubarb pie was 15 years ago when I was in my mid-20s. I had never heard of it before then. It was made by my friend’s wife, who was from Kansas. It was delicious.
I’m from Texas.
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### Author:  [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/16 "2013-11-28T16:21:20Z")
It’s a pie I enjoy. I know many people who have not ever tasted it. I can’t say they’re from any particular region, though.
It’s definitely NOT a Thanksgiving pie. Rhubarb is one of the first edibles that comes up in the garden in Spring.
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### Author:  [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/17 "2013-11-28T16:39:27Z")
_Doubtless God could have made a better berry (than the strawberry), but doubtless God never did_
William Allen Butler
That said, I don’t believe the flavor of the strawberry is improved by anything beyond washing it. On the contrary. Also, its inclusion in rhubarb pie is only as a prophylactic for those whose palates are too timid to enjoy the sharp tartness of rhubarb alone. I thank the blackbird who ate all the strawberries in my mother’s garden while leaving the rhubarb unmolested.
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### Author:  [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/18 "2013-11-28T17:45:21Z")
I love strawberry rhubarb and just plain ole rhubarb pie. But I do not think of it as a Thanksgiving pie.
Thanksgiving pies are pumpkin and Apple and pecan, beside the main ingredient is “in season” in the fall.
I remember a Thanksgiving when I wa younger and my mother hosted a bunch of “Thanksgiving” orphans. Just some people who couldn’t quite get home to their real family. One guest was an older lady, the mother of one of her bridge partners.
Mom was so proud of her Thanksgiving pies: Pumpkin, Apple, and Pecan, plus a mincemeat.
The lady wanted a Lemon Meringue pie because that was her favorite.
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### Author:  [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/19 "2013-11-28T18:58:35Z")
I never heard of it until I was college age, circa 2000. Now that I’ve tried it, I’ll never have either strawberries of rhubarb in a pie without the other also.
Having said that, it is definitely a spring pie, not a Thanksgiving one.
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### Author:  [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-rare-in-parts-of-the-us/675006/20 "2013-11-28T19:07:58Z")
I’m from the south and I’ve never seen rhubarb pie. I have no idea what it even tastes like.
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