A bit late for Pi day, but let's talk

[daffodil101]

Wow, I've never heard of most of those pies!  Another Aussie here, and to us pie usually means a meat pie.  Meat pies come in all different qualities, from fatty ones with very questionable meat content to amazing gold-medal winning chunky steak.  Chicken-vegie pies are popular too, and it's considered un-Australian not to at least offer tomato sauce with a meat pie   Mushy peas are also a great side!

Apart from that we have apple pie, lemon meringue and some berry pies, usually in the freezer section at the supermarket.  I love apple pie, and am constantly looking to find a recipe the same as the one we used to make at work (no luck yet).

Gotta admit, all those weird creamy pies with banana and cream and chocolate make me feel a little ill!  Maybe they're more like what we think of as cheesecakes.  Pies over here are flaky pastry and meat or fruit.

(I've never been able to get my head around pumpkin pie, either-- it's a vegetable, veges aren't meant to be sweet!)

[bluerose9978]

(I've never been able to get my head around pumpkin pie, either-- it's a vegetable, veges aren't meant to be sweet!)

Technically, pumpkin is considered a gourd, not a veggie.

[xeevee]

(I've never been able to get my head around pumpkin pie, either-- it's a vegetable, veges aren't meant to be sweet!)

Technically, pumpkin is considered a gourd, not a veggie.

I'm an Aussie too, daffodil, and you should make a pumpkin pie yourself.  You will not regret it.   It doesn't actually taste like pumpkin, you kind of just get the sweetness from it (as it is a sweet vegetable).  Have you ever heard of people using beetroot to make a dense chocolate cake?  It's a bit like doing that.  It's actually very, very similar to a custard tart.

[bluerose9978]

(I've never been able to get my head around pumpkin pie, either-- it's a vegetable, veges aren't meant to be sweet!)

Technically, pumpkin is considered a gourd, not a veggie.

I'm an Aussie too, daffodil, and you should make a pumpkin pie yourself.  You will not regret it.   It doesn't actually taste like pumpkin, you kind of just get the sweetness from it (as it is a sweet vegetable).  Have you ever heard of people using beetroot to make a dense chocolate cake?  It's a bit like doing that.  It's actually very, very similar to a custard tart.

Pumpkins, squash and gourds are members of the enormously diverse Cucurbitaceae family, which contains more than 100 genera and over 700 species.  They have been providing mankind with food and utilitarian objects since before recorded history.  Various members of the genus Cucurbita are known as squash or gourds.

Names differ throughout the world, but in the United States, any round, orange squash used for pies or jack-o-lanterns is likely to be called a pumpkin.  But the term “pumpkin” really has no botanical meaning, as they are actually all squash.  Squash are divided into two categories: tender or summer squash, and hard-skinned or winter squash.  Examples of summer squash include zucchini, pattypan, straightneck, crookneck and other types.  Winter squash include small to medium hard-skinned squash such as the acorn, small hubbard, miniature pumpkin and spaghetti types, as well as the large hard-skinned types, including banana, butternuts, cheese pumpkins, cushaws, and large hubbards, among others.

Botanists use distinctive characteristics of leaves, seeds and fruit stalks to classify the different species.  The origins of these species are lost in time, but all are assumed to have originated in the Western Hemisphere, principally South and Central America and Mexico.  Variety selection for the many distinct shapes, sizes and colors has occurred in all cultures worldwide.

[xeevee]

Yes, Bluerose, and a tomato is a fruit, but I'm not going to add it to my fruit salad.  In Australia pumpkin and butternut squash are both used as a savory thing.  Roasted with potatoes, in soup, that kind of thing.  Not ever in desserts.  So we call them vegetables, the same way as we would a tomato.  It is therefore, not uncommon for an Australian to think it weird you'd put them in a sweet pie. 

[LadyGuinevere]

Steak pie!!!! I love a good steak pie. Chicken, ham and leek too. I made a good cottage pie, but despite the name there is no pastry involved.

Sweet-wise, not really sure on my favourite, though apple and blackberry is a classic. Oh! Banoffee pie. LOVE that

[bluerose9978]

Yes, Bluerose, and a tomato is a fruit, but I'm not going to add it to my fruit salad.  In Australia pumpkin and butternut squash are both used as a savory thing.  Roasted with potatoes, in soup, that kind of thing.  Not ever in desserts.  So we call them vegetables, the same way as we would a tomato.  It is therefore, not uncommon for an Australian to think it weird you'd put them in a sweet pie. 

Pumpkins are sweet, though, that is why you should not think of them like a vegetable because they are actually more like a fruit.

[xeevee]

It's how they are used in Australia. In savory things. They aren't sweet like an apple is sweet, they're more sweet like beets are sweet.  And while you can use beets for sugar syrup or in a cake, if you actually think of eating beets you'd put them in a salad.   It's a different kind of sweetness.  Even in pumpkin bread and scones in Australia and NZ they aren't sweet.  They're both totally ok to have cheese and tomato on them.  No other country (save maybe Canada, because they get it from America) uses pumpkin as a sweet thing. 

And you can think of them however you want.  If I want to think of them as a vegetable I will.  They are closely related to zucchini.  I wouldn't use zucchini in a cake.  I much prefer to use pumpkin baked with potatoes or in pumpkin soup, both savory, than I would in a pie.  If you want to think of them as fruit go ahead.

[invaderhorizongreen]

I have never had pear, though I love anything chocolate. I had a customer once bring in some fresh srawberry rhubarb.

[melodys_angel]

I never really had squash up until a few years ago, where I had to try to find foods I was safe with.  Squash is one of them.

I hate potatoes. And I don't like sweet potatoes.  But I have to try to take a few (sweet potatoes--I react to potato) in every once in awhile.

Im not used to things being sweet when they should be savory.  Sweet potatoes...are sweet.  You could turn them savory with herbs but its easier to add a bit of maple syrup.

Its the same with squash.  I see it as savory but they can go sweet instantly.  So, pumpkin pie isn't really farfetched.  An acorn squash pie probably wouldn't be, either.

Its like bacon that's been covered in chocolate or added to icecream. I personally cant have it but I know the profile works out..even though it to me is weird.  Basil instead of mint for a dessert is another one.  Weird but works

[bluerose9978]

It's how they are used in Australia. In savory things. They aren't sweet like an apple is sweet, they're more sweet like beets are sweet.  And while you can use beets for sugar syrup or in a cake, if you actually think of eating beets you'd put them in a salad.   It's a different kind of sweetness.  Even in pumpkin bread and scones in Australia and NZ they aren't sweet.  They're both totally ok to have cheese and tomato on them.  No other country (save maybe Canada, because they get it from America) uses pumpkin as a sweet thing. 

And you can think of them however you want.  If I want to think of them as a vegetable I will.  They are closely related to zucchini.  I wouldn't use zucchini in a cake.  I much prefer to use pumpkin baked with potatoes or in pumpkin soup, both savory, than I would in a pie.  If you want to think of them as fruit go ahead.

Ah, but zucchini muffins and zucchini bread is so sweet and so good. You should really try it! Zucchini is also considered a gourd/squash and not a vegetable. I am surprised at the food group differences in the countries.

[daffodil101]

Pumpkins, squash and gourds are members of the enormously diverse Cucurbitaceae family, which contains more than 100 genera and over 700 species.  They have been providing mankind with food and utilitarian objects since before recorded history.  Various members of the genus Cucurbita are known as squash or gourds.

Names differ throughout the world, but in the United States, any round, orange squash used for pies or jack-o-lanterns is likely to be called a pumpkin.  But the term “pumpkin” really has no botanical meaning, as they are actually all squash.  Squash are divided into two categories: tender or summer squash, and hard-skinned or winter squash.  Examples of summer squash include zucchini, pattypan, straightneck, crookneck and other types.  Winter squash include small to medium hard-skinned squash such as the acorn, small hubbard, miniature pumpkin and spaghetti types, as well as the large hard-skinned types, including banana, butternuts, cheese pumpkins, cushaws, and large hubbards, among others.

Botanists use distinctive characteristics of leaves, seeds and fruit stalks to classify the different species.  The origins of these species are lost in time, but all are assumed to have originated in the Western Hemisphere, principally South and Central America and Mexico.  Variety selection for the many distinct shapes, sizes and colors has occurred in all cultures worldwide.

Hey cool!  Biology was one of my fave subjects in school, awesome to know how plants are related and classified   It's interesting how different cultures use food differently.  My old boss was Italian, and he couldn't stand the thought of putting fruits in savoury dishes, like pineapple in sweet& sour sauce, or apples with pork.  In England I've heard they don't eat pumpkin at all- it's traditionally fed to pigs! (Maybe someone from the UK can confirm this!)

Yeah, sweet potatoes are another one I can't imagine as a sweet food (despite the name!).  They're used interchangably with potatoes, known as a healthier lower-gi alternative.  Over here sugar comes from sugar cane, and nothing else.  (We do love vegies in breads and muffins, but they're savoury.  The only exception really is carrot cake.  And the sort of paleo-raw-food health places that substitute veges for things like beetroot in chocolate cake etc. to reduce sugar and calories. Which sort of gets into vegan and specialist no-sugar no-carbs diet territory.

I think it depends on what you're exposed to growing up, as to what you think about how foods should be used.  I do know a few aussies who like bacon maple-syrup pancakes and eating McDonalds chips with soft serves, though it grosses me out personally. I've heard in America almost all processed food is sweetened, moreso than over here. Even Big Macs have to have a pickle or they're classed as confectionery.  So I guess if you're used to having sugar in savoury dishes the lines between sweet and savoury get blurred.  (I've never been to the US, just going on what I've heard in the media.)

We're quite multicultural in terms of our food, but we don't have much American, it leans toward European and Asian styles where most of our immigrants came from.  There are a few American-inspired restaurants starting to pop up that sell classic American food where sweet and savoury are used differently but it's considered a bit of a niche market.

[bluerose9978]

I wouldn't say they put pickles on as much fast food as they put ketchup on it. And I hate ketchup, and it's loaded with sugar. I think what they do most is mix different tastes. Sweet with salty. Bitter with sweet. Salty and savory.

[Whippycorn]

Pumpkin is botanically speaking a fruit. As are many things often considered vegetables and savoury such as peppers,  aubergine etc. Meanwhile, some vegetables like rhubarb are often considered fruit. I say make your pies out of whatever fruit or veg you like.   

Daffodil, we do eat pumpkin! Pumpkin pie is ok but I find adding more sugar to already sweet fruits makes it a bit sickly. In fact, I often find my American friends' taste for sweetening even savoury things a bit baffling!

I have never heard of many of these pies...coconut cream, boston, peanut butter, grasshopper,  french silk?  I like nice home made mince pies at Christmas and lemon tarts in the summer. 

[DazzleKitty]

I love pie. It's one of my favorite kinds of desserts. My votes went to apple, cherry, berry (because I like blackberry), and pumpkin. Of course I like others, but those are the ones that are actual favorites.