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Why I Want This Sourdough Dessert In My “Last Meal”
In our imperfect world, where our humanity is not enough to exempt all of us from harsh penal policies, the justice system in some states offers the unpardonable a parting shot: the last meal.
Steak. Wine. Pizza. More steak but smothered with gravy. A triple meat bacon cheeseburger. Baked potatoes. A bucket of KFC. Waffles. French fries with extra salt.
For dessert, at least in the US, the loudest clamor came for the beloved apple pie. No surprise there. What is “as American as apple pie,” the stuff of dreams for many a young soldier conscripted to fight in World War II, whose stock answer when asked by journalists why they were going to war was “for Mom and apple pie”? Even in the early years of the Cold War, the apple pie figured in a song called The Fiery Bear, as a symbol of American culture vis-a-vis the Russian Bear, which is the symbol of the Soviet Union:
We love our baseball and apple pie
We love our county fair
We’ll keep Old Glory waving high
There’s no place here for a bear
This got me thinking: of all the yummy cakes and all the luscious pies in the world to send me off into the void, is the apple pie my own end-of-days dessert of choice?
The answer is a resounding yes.
TRUE ORIGINS
Though it has safely secured its place as an emblem of American culture, the apple pie did not originate in the US. It came from England, whose early settlers in the colonies brought with them recipes that date back to medieval times. Apples are also not native to North America. They originated in Kazakhstan. It spread throughout Europe through the Romans, who cultivated apples and carried apple seeds and trees to the British Isles.
A pivotal moment in the history of American cuisine came in 1796 when the first known American apple pie recipe was published in American Cookery by Amelia Simmons:
Apple Pie.
Stew and strain the apples, to every three pints, grate the peal of a fresh lemon, add cinnamon, mace, rose-water and sugar to your taste — and bake in…
