# Where did the putting of a slice of cheese on top of an apple pie come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274 "2008-07-21T17:23:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/1 "2008-07-21T17:23:27Z")
\*Title says it all. I never knew about this till I came down South - is it common elsewhere? Is it done for other pies? \*when served, not when cooked ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/2 "2008-07-21T17:25:04Z")
From the very bowels of Hell itself? ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/3 "2008-07-21T17:29:06Z")
Who does this, and why? I’ve never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/4 "2008-07-21T17:37:51Z")
I’ve always known it to be a northern thing, usually from New England. Not sure how it migrated down south. It should be a slice of sharp cheddar. Apparently it goes back to England. > **[How did the saying As American as Apple Pie develop? - Answers](https://www.answers.com/food-ec/How_did_the_saying_As_American_as_Apple_Pie_develop)** > > The history of the good old apple pie goes back a very long way. > It could have originated from either England or > Holland/Netherlands. There is a English recipe that dates back to > 1381. Although, without of a shadow of a doubt, apples cooked in > pies... > [@](#): > > One combination of flavors common in the nineteenth century and earlier, which was referred to in English novels of the time, was apple pie and cheese (usually sharp cheddar cheese). This was because apples were not always sweet; the leading sweet variety, Red Delicious, wasn’t developed until 1868. The sharpness of the cheese combines with the tartness of the apple and so produces an appealing taste. While its popularity has waned as modern pies have become sweeter, some people still enjoy this combination. In Yorkshire, for example, apple pies are baked with cheddar cheese or served with a hard crumbly cheese such as Cheshire alongside. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/5 "2008-07-21T17:47:44Z")
It was common in West Texas where I grew up. Delicious, too. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/6 "2008-07-21T17:51:39Z")
You wanna hear strange – I grew up eating apples fried in bacon grease, and frequently there were pieces of bacon left in! But of course given the feeling of people have toward bacon here, it probably won’t be considered strange at all! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/7 "2008-07-21T18:03:34Z")
I have a an old cookbook with a picture of a slice of apple pie with cheese on it in the pastry section. It confused me as a child and I never tried it because I didn’t want to risk losing the gloriousness of apple pie with the cheese. But after all those Pushing Daisies episodes where Chuck would make pies with various cheese infused crusts, I’ve begun to wonder if it might be something worth trying. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/8 "2008-07-21T18:03:57Z")
It came from my stepfather, who also liked to put butter on his piecrust. He was also the inventer of raw hamburger sandwiches, and the practice of stuffing toast into a glass of milk and eating the whole mess. The guy was some kinda fucked up. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/9 "2008-07-21T18:10:12Z")
[QUOTE=Inner Stickler] … I’ve begun to wonder if it might be something worth trying. [/QUOTE] Trust me. It’s well worth trying. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/10 "2008-07-21T18:12:18Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] I’ve always known it to be a northern thing, usually from New England. Not sure how it migrated down south. It should be a slice of sharp cheddar. Apparently it goes back to England. > **[How did the saying As American as Apple Pie develop? - Answers](https://www.answers.com/food-ec/How_did_the_saying_As_American_as_Apple_Pie_develop)** > > The history of the good old apple pie goes back a very long way. > It could have originated from either England or > Holland/Netherlands. There is a English recipe that dates back to > 1381. Although, without of a shadow of a doubt, apples cooked in > pies... [/QUOTE] Wow. I left MA to live heah, and never heard of it up theyah. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/11 "2008-07-21T18:18:24Z")
[QUOTE=Ellen Cherry] You wanna hear strange – I grew up eating apples fried in bacon grease, and frequently there were pieces of bacon left in! But of course given the feeling of people have toward bacon here, it probably won’t be considered strange at all! 🙂 [/QUOTE] Not only isn’t that strange - I’ve eaten, and enjoyed, that very dish. Good stuff! ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/12 "2008-07-21T18:49:26Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] Trust me. It’s well worth trying. 😉 [/QUOTE] Pear with a Gruyere crust…mmmm. I remember reading one of the James Herriot books…as a country vet, he was NEVER home for Christmas, but many of the Yorkshire folk were very apologetic, so would fill him up with Christmas goodies after he pulled the suspenders out of the goat or pushed the uterus back into the cow. There was one meal…I want to say it was a slice of fruit cake, a hunk of Weyslendale (sp?) cheese, and a glass of neat whiskey. He said it was amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/13 "2008-07-21T19:01:27Z")
[O tempora! O mores! What profanations these That seek to dim the glories Of apple-pie and cheese!](http://www.todays-woman.net/famous-poetsid-785.html) (still - did this merit seven stanzas?) ---
**Author:** ![Elret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Elret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elret)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/14 "2008-07-21T19:17:57Z")
It’s very good. And if we’re going to be all poetic about it, my Grandpa always used to say “A slice of pie without the cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze.” ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/15 "2008-07-21T19:25:36Z")
I never heard of it till I moved up here to New England. I grew up in New York State and my parents are from Penna. I still haven’t tried it, but how could it be wrong? Cabot cheddar on a piece of cardboard would be wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/16 "2008-07-21T19:27:40Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] There was one meal…I want to say it was a slice of fruit cake, a hunk of Weyslendale (sp?) cheese, and a glass of neat whiskey. He said it was amazing. [/QUOTE] Mention of Wensleydale always makes me think of Wallace and Gromit: Wallace: Won’t you come in? We were just about to have some cheese. Wendolene: Oh no, not cheese. Sorry. Brings me out in a rash. Can’t stand the stuff. Wallace: [gulp] Not even Wensleydale? (…oh well, more for us!) ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/17 "2008-07-21T20:06:46Z")
This can be the companion thread to **scrambledeggs’** [thread=476154]why do we make sandwiches[/thread]. We just need some discussion of milk to wash it down. I’m not from the apple pie and cheddar culture, but it is awful good. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/18 "2008-07-21T20:25:18Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] Mention of Wensleydale always makes me think of Wallace and Gromit: Wallace: Won’t you come in? We were just about to have some cheese. Wendolene: Oh no, not cheese. Sorry. Brings me out in a rash. Can’t stand the stuff. Wallace: [gulp] Not even Wensleydale? (…oh well, more for us!) [/QUOTE] Wensleydale is also the name of the Cheese Shop owner in the infamous Monty Python sketch. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/19 "2008-07-21T21:48:12Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] I’ve always known it to be a northern thing, usually from New England. Not sure how it migrated down south. It should be a slice of sharp cheddar. Apparently it goes back to England. > **[How did the saying As American as Apple Pie develop? - Answers](https://www.answers.com/food-ec/How_did_the_saying_As_American_as_Apple_Pie_develop)** > > The history of the good old apple pie goes back a very long way. > It could have originated from either England or > Holland/Netherlands. There is a English recipe that dates back to > 1381. Although, without of a shadow of a doubt, apples cooked in > pies... [/QUOTE] My mother, from good yorkshire stock, always put blue vein cheese in the top of her christmas (fruit) mince pies. I prefer a strong stilton myself, but a cheddar will do. Si ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274/20 "2008-07-21T21:56:51Z")
Cheddar and apple pie…so, so good, especially when the pie is hot and the cheese gets all melty…oh, my. I just can’t imagine anyone NOT thinking this is good! I eat cheese and apple slices and crackers all the time…pie is only a tad bit sweeter… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-putting-of-a-slice-of-cheese-on-top-of-an-apple-pie-come-from/457274.md?page=2)