Pork pies are one of a few select reasons that I could never leave England (along with Tottenham Hotspur FC; Hampshire Cricket Club, Marston’s Pedigree. Tea, pubs and twiglets)
Snake and pygmy pie has a pastry case and (my preference) snake and pygmy pud is suet pastry and steamed not baked.
You do realise that we have now revolted all the yanks on this thread as they don’t eat pygmy (and most of them could do with cutting down on the snakes if truth is told) and they think that suet is bird food (really they do).
If you were to offer me “Pie” I would expect either a tasty dessert, or you would want me to perform Oral sex. -Depending on how you asked me, and if you were a girl, of course.
Ah, yes, I forgot about meat pies. My “dessert or pizza” comment was assuming I was dealing with an American. I would figure an obvious native of NYC was offering me a pizza, while a fellow Roanoker would be giving me dessert. To be honest, though, I probably would’ve figured out of pure ignorance that an Englishman was offering the dessert variety. Now, I know better. Thanks, SDMB!
I like jjimm’s definition.
I’m from the southern US and if someone offers “pie” it means a pastry dessert filled with fruit (that can be either baked or fried, MMMMMM fried apple pies!),gooey like pecan pie or custardy like chocolate, coconut or lemon. We also have chicken pie but it would never be offered as just “pie.” It would be offered as chicken pie. Pizza is not referred to as pie, just pizza.
Well, that’s the odd thing; divorced from context or qualifiers (which, admittedly, doesn’t happen often in real life), I wouldn’t have a clue what I’d be getting.
‘Pie’ or ‘a pie’ to me are strictly generic terms meaning a pastry shell with some kind of filling. I eat a lot of pies (but not all of them, like owlstretchingtime, who I understand additionally ate the sausage rolls), but if someone were to ask me ‘do you fancy [a] pie?’, I’d be forced to ask what kind.
Unmodified “pie” or “a pie” is dessert, but there’s nothing odd about “meat pie” or “egg pie” or so forth… however, if I was going to describe a meat pie made of ground beef or pork, I’d probably be more likely to call it tourtière.
Ooops. A pie is always presumed to be some kind of meat and pastry deal here. That is not to say that we don’t know what an apple pie is. But if someone asks you if you “fancy a pie for lunch” it will be a meat pie.
“Pie” usually means a pastry shell with fruit filling, or occasionally chocolate pussing-like stuff or lemon. I’ve heard rumors of a Christmas dish called “mincemeat” pie, but have never actually seen it. Ditto for “Green Tomato” Pie.
“Pie” might be Chicken Pot Pie, a mix of chicken meat, potatoes, carrots, celery, peas (maybe) and possibly other vegetables in gravy in the same kind of pastry crust. Sounds like a plot by the chicken people to horn in on the dessert market, but a well-made CPP is OK.
“Pie” is also an old term for Pizza. My father occasionally called Pizza a “Tomato Pie”, but I think this is an old term, used to “sell” the idea to an unfamiliar public, that is now dying out. (Kinda like “Norwegian snowshoes” for “skis”)
“Pie” by itself never means British-style meat pies, which are always “meat pies”. Had these in Britain and Ireland, and they’re OK, too, but not at all like chicken pot pies.
Shepher’s Pie is never just “Pie”, either. It’s another British Meat Pie, and therefore always needs the modifier.
A friend of mine used to call Quiche Lorraigne “Scrambled Egg Pie”, but that was just her. “Pie” is never Quiche.
American. but a very long time SCAdian with a serious interest in culinaty history and lots of british and commonwealth friends. I would differentiate between a piece of pie [sweet dessert] and a pie [savory, meat and veg] if the person were brit/commonwealth. if american a pie might possibly be pizza if the person offering it was from chicago, north new jersey or east pennsylvania. a pie from an amish or mennonite might mean sweet, might mean savory.
My Dad and Uncle were down under once staying at a friends house. They’d eaten lunch and were having dessert: a fruit pie of some kind. Anyhow, they were talking about my dad’s job when from out of nowhere the host asks, “How’s the pie?”
“Delicious” they respond.
“No, I meant the pie.” He says. My dad and uncle look at each other confused and sort of weakly indicate their plates with a “?” on their faces.
So the host says, “Your job. Does it Pie well?” My dad was thrown off by the Aussie way of saying “Pay.” I could feel poor ol’ Dad’s embarrassment all the way back here in the US.