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MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2017
the
Holiday
issue
E
veryone is convinced that their, or
their mother’s, pecan pie is the world’s
best. I can see several reasons for this
conviction. Possibly, it’s just because most of
us have a rip-roaring sweet tooth, and pecan
pie is essentially a gigantic piece of really good
candy in a crust, and eating something this
sweet makes us happy, and the version we
most often eat is our own, or our mother’s.
Possibly this is because, given that one cannot
possibly rationalize eating a gigantic piece of
really good candy in a crust with frequency, it
is a rare treat,indulged in once—maybe twice
— a year, max, so it gains extra allure, served
up with the whipped cream of superlatives.
Or possibly it’s because pecan pie is a food
you encounter at home far more often than
at a restaurant. This means it is likely to
be homemade, with all the associations of
familial care and tradition; it’s Aunt Sudie’s
recipe that Memaw just
had
to make, and
Boudreaux will have no other.
I understand, and respect, these rationales
for why your or your mother’s pecan pie is
the world’s best. But, meaning no disrespect,
there is one definitive reason why, no matter
what you believe, your or your mother’s
version cannot be the world’s best.
And that reason is this:
My
pecan pie is the
world’s best.
Here’s why, and before you get all bent out of
shape, relax; I’m going to give you the recipe
at the end of this, and you’ll be able to make
it and see for yourself.
My pecan pie is not the same old, same old.
Look, all pecan pie fillings are essentially the
same thing: a sweetened liquid mixture that is,
like a custard, bound and thickened by eggs.
But where a custard pie uses sweetened milk
or buttermilk for the liquid, in a pecan pie the
liquid is all sugar and sugar equivalent, say,
corn or some other syrup.For the vast majority
of Americans, that syrup is Karo. And, again,
for the vast majority of Americans, that recipe
is the one right on the Karo bottle. And it’s a
fine recipe, as far as it goes, and I know you
have always enjoyed it and would be happy to
have its shoes under your bed … but it
is
the
same one you have eaten your entire life.
Forthwith, here are some persuasive points of
difference where
my
pecan pie is concerned:
My pecan pie’s sweetness is not a Johnny-
one-note.
Gone
Pecan
by
Crescent Dragonwagon +
photo by
Romney Caruso