Regional Cuisine - Apple Pie is the All-American Dessert

We love baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet -Vermont, the apples may be sweetened with honey
or so an old ad for Chevrolet tells us. Apple pie is asor maple syrup. And in many restaurants on Cape
American as... well.. apple pie. If baseball is theCod, rather than vanilla ice cream, your piping hot
All-American sport, then apple pie is the all-Americanslice of heaven will be served topped with a slice of
dessert. And while the internet and book stores havemelting cheese.
spread the recipes far and wide, there are classicIn the Southern states, with their predilection for
apple desserts in every region that are characteristiccreamy, lightly spiced foods, the most common apple
of the cuisine for that area.pie recipes include Apple Cream Pie (made with sour
Wherever Johnny Appleseed spread orchards, therecream) and Apple Bourbon Pie, with raisins soaked in
are recipes that make use of other regionalbourbon. Raisins soaked in rum are another popular
ingredients and traditions to create unique dessertsaddition to 'apple pie' in the South, especially in New
with apples and - whatever!Orleans. Other additions include rhubarb, diced
If you think of apple pie as having two crusts and apeaches and walnuts.
filling of apples combined with sugar, brown sugar,Midwestern Apple Pie is the classic apple pie - two
cinnamon and nutmeg, some of the regionalflaky crusts packed with thick, sweet, juicy apple
variations may surprise you. Apple cobbler, appleslices mounded high and vented to let the fragrant
pandowdy, apple puff, apple crisp, apple brown bettysteam escape. In Kansas or Missouri, your apple pie
are all variations of apple pie in different regions. Thewill satisfy any purist - served with a scoop of vanilla
prevailing apple recipes for any region may beice cream that melts into the syrupy filling and adds
affected by the variety of apple that's hardiest andthe perfect touch of creaminess to the mix.
most popular in that area, as well as the style ofIn the South and Southwest you'll find deep-fried
cuisine that's prevalent.apple pie, a variation that matches melt-in-your-mouth
In New England, for instance, most apple recipes callflaky fried crust with sweet, diced apples in a syrupy
for Pippins, Granny Smith's or other firm fleshed,sauce. And in Pennsylvania, the home of the
sweet varieties of apple that cook up well and losePennsylvania Dutch, Apple Crumb Pie and Apple
little moisture when being baked. In Maine, it's notPandowdy take the place of Apple Pie a la Mode on
uncommon to find blueberries in your apple pie. Inmost restaurant menus.
Massachusetts, cranberry apple pie is a favorite. In