It looks like an All American pumpkin pie, but, it is not. It has even been mistaken for a lookalike, the Yam. Always best served cold, the Sweet Potato, in the form of pie, is a southern delicacy handed down nearly two centuries.
The taste of sweet potato pie is unexpected. The first bite is cold on your lips. A candied flavor that rushes to the tip of your tongue. It is chased by a dynamic-duo of cinnamon and nutmeg. A faint whisper of vanilla in the aftertaste leaves you begging for another bite.
Sweet potato pie is a southern comfort that has been embraced and shared for generations. Ma Dukes, who rarely cooked, let alone baked, would make two; knowing that it could be devoured before being served to the rest of the family. The flavor was old school, made with a touch of vanilla, leaving you with a taste of her Mobile, Alabama game.
Another southerner of Mobile, Abby Fisher, knew the power of sweet potato pie, and included the recipe in a book she published in 1881, What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking. It was likely the first cookbook authored by a Black american, and, the former slave poured thirty-five years of experience into it,
“Two pounds of potatoes will make two pies. Boil the potatoes soft; peel and mash fine through a colander while hot; one tablespoonful of butter to be mashed in with the potato. Take five eggs and beat the yelks [yolks] and whites separate and add one gill [one half cup] of milk; sweeten to taste; squeeze the juice of one orange, and grate one half of the peel into the liquid. One half teaspoonful of salt in the potatoes. Have only one crust and that at the bottom of the plate. Bake quickly.”
Over time, the recipe has evolved, and the nostalgic Old South flavor of Mrs. Fisher’s recipes evoke a folksier sentiment that still feels natural. The slightest scent of sweet potato pie in the nostrils would elicit memories of Ma Dukes working over a hot stove back home.
Up north, the new guard is more playful with the time-honored tradition, sweetening the pie with maple syrup instead of vanilla, which leaves a welcomed tasty impression. There have also been baking transgressions, at times. Lapse of judgement made by people who add ingredients like pecans, or whipped cream toppings to sweet potato pie. Better to stick with tradition and What Mrs. Fisher knows about Old Southern cooking.
* * *
A Sweet Potato Pie is copyright © 2009, Do You KNOW Clarence?™ All rights reserved. What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking, can be purchased on Amazon.
