Yesterday I made a perfect pumpkin pie, managed not to eat the entire one all at once, and now I’m enjoying a piece.
My friend Ann was the one who taught me how to make a perfect pumpkin pie. Or rather, what happened was that she introduced me to and taught me to love pumpkin pie by making the most amazing ones for the holidays we celebrated together in Belgium. For years it was part of life’s highlights. Then one day she moved back to the States and brutally left me with nothing but the recipe. I learned the hard way.
“Why did I make a pie yesterday,” you might ask, “when Thanksgiving is a week away?” Since we’ve never lived in the US as adults, I’ve never had access to canned pumpkin. To make pumpkin pie, I hence have to roast or cook an entire fresh pumpkin and make the purée before I can get to the actual pie. Since this is something that takes a bit of time, I have to do it in advance, and this is what I did yesterday. I filled up five Ziploc bags with exactly 1 ½ cups of pumpkin purée in each and put them in the freezer for future pumpkin pie making, but then there was a bit of purée left, so I decided to make a pie and some soup.
The recipe is from Fanny Farmer’s cookbook, if you wonder. I don’t know if it makes a difference that the pumpkin is home cooked and puréed, but this is the way I’ve got to love it, so probably when we move back to the US, I’ll just keep doing it. I think you might even be able to get canned pumpkin here in Maadi, but I’m sure it’s very expensive; especially imported for American expats celebrating their holidays in Cairo. The pumpkin we got at Carrefour weighed about 12Lb and cost less than $2.
Pumpkin, $2
Labor, 3 hours
Enjoying a perfect slice of pumpkin pie, PRICELESS
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4 comments:
Growing up my mother always made pumpkin puree from scratch. Luckily i then moved to the states where Hubby introduced me to the can.
I've been looking everywhere for canned pumpkin so if someone breaks into your house this evening and all that's missing is a ziplock of pumpking... Well i know nothing about it! :p
I saw that they have canned pumpkin at Massoud's on Rd9. (Naturally, it had no price tag.) Did you try there? It's not difficult to make pureed pumpkin though *hrm*hrm* - all you need is a little patience.
You don't know me, but I have been following your blog since we decided to move to Cairo. I grew up in the US and as a teenager moved to Mexico. So we also had to switch over from canned pumpkin to homemade. Until now I have mostly satisfied my pumpkin cravings with pumpkin-sweet potato soup, but you've given me the courage to try and go all out for the pie. Hope my dutch husband will like it....
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