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What’s in a pie? History, culture, and a taste of home.

Pumpkin pie is universally a Thanksgiving staple – right? 

Not quite. Travel south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and another orange-colored pie reigns supreme – sweet potato pie.

Why We Wrote This

Cooking often involves adaptation. Southern cooks evolved recipes for sweet potato pie, while in the North, pumpkin reigned supreme. Now, people are crossing the borders of pie cuisine.

Historically, pumpkins don’t grow well in the Southern heat. But that’s not the only reason for the absence of pumpkin pie. Thanksgiving was originally perceived as a holiday forced on the South by the victorious North after the Civil War. The arrival of pumpkins was just another pie in the face.

Sweet potatoes are also central to Black Southern cuisine; they’re tied up in the history of the slave trade, the yam, and plantation cooks. 

“I was raised with … ‘Black folk don’t eat pumpkin pie’ kind of thing,” says Maia Harrell, a chef and self-described “pie nerd” who grew up in Georgia. “If it’s an orange pie, it’s always sweet potato.”

But something unexpected has been happening when Ms. Harrell sets slices of pumpkin pie and sweet potato pie side by side on her table at farmers markets. Black customers confide in her, saying they actually prefer pumpkin pie. And curious white customers want to buy a sweet potato pie – after asking questions about the dish they’ve never seen.

Without fail, she adds, they grew up in the North. 

If you grew up in the northern United States, it’s likely you associate pumpkin pie with Thanksgiving. But travel south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and another orange-colored pie reigns supreme on the holiday table – sweet potato pie.

Historically, pumpkins don’t grow well in the Southern heat. But that’s not the only reason for the absence of pumpkin pie. Thanksgiving was originally perceived as a holiday forced on the South by the victorious North after the Civil War. The arrival of pumpkins was just another pie in the face.

There’s more to the story. Sweet potatoes are also central to Black Southern cuisine; they’re tied up in the history of the slave trade, the yam, and plantation cooks. 

Why We Wrote This

Cooking often involves adaptation. Southern cooks evolved recipes for sweet potato pie, while in the North, pumpkin reigned supreme. Now, people are crossing the borders of pie cuisine.

Maia Harrell, who grew up in Georgia, is a self-described pie nerd. She started working in a pie shop in high school, studied the history of Black women and pie-making in graduate school, and then launched her own business, Lord of the Pies. 

Today, she makes more than 100 pies a week and sells them at farmers markets around Atlanta. Ms. Harrell, whose family traditions lean more toward cake, didn’t even have her first piece of pumpkin pie until she worked in the pie shop. She found it bland. 

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