Pumpkin pie is a staple at Thanksgiving, because pumpkin is a relatively common New World food that our ancestors ate. But the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock did not have pumpkin pie at the first Thanksgiving, because they had no ovens to bake them in, and no sugar, either. They more likely cooked pumpkin in a stew. However, pumpkin pie came about pretty early in American history. The gourd itself was called pompom, pompion, and pompkin over time, until we finally settled on calling it pumpkin.
Max Miller of Tasting History takes us through the making of a pie from the 1796 recipe book American Cookery by Amelia Simmons. It was the first cookbook written by an American and published in America. The pie itself is pretty simple, and the 227-year-old recipe holds up today. While it bakes, Miller tells us about early European settlers in America and how they used pumpkins. The English pumpion pie recipe he refers to can be seen in this video. That 1670 recipe has apples, raisins, and currants alongside pumpkin in the pie.
No matter how you make your Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, you'll learn plenty about pumpkin here to share with the family while you serve dessert. -via Laughing Squid