Pumpkin pie may be the more popular choice on your Thanksgiving dessert table, but the true king of the South is a traditional pecan pie. Southerners love it year round, not just until Thanksgiving like its creamy, pumpkin counterpart, and it’s a much-loved dessert staple here in Beaufort SC.
The South’s favorite dessert’s origins date all the way back to the late 1800s, and the recipe has mostly stayed unchanged since then.
Here’s a look into the origin of pecan pie and how it’s climbed to a position of prominence on Thanksgiving tables across the South, and the rest of the country.
Pecans are native to the southern U.S. and archaeological evidence found in Texas tells us that Native Americans used pecans over 7,000 years ago.
Pecans were commonly found and harvested from their trees along the banks of the Mississippi River, then after the Civil War, they were brought to Georgia, and the state is now the main commercial grower of pecans in the country.
Nobody knows for certain where the pie originated, but a popular theory suggests that Native Americans introduced the pecan to the French after they settled in New Orleans and Louisiana, and because of the French talents at baking, pecan pie was invented shortly thereafter.
Sources say that cookbooks in Texas dating back to the 1870s include recipes for the use of pecans, but the first pecan pie surfaced in a cookbook published in Missouri back in 1898.
The filling is usually made of pecans, eggs, butter, sugar, and some form of syrup. The combination of the butter, sugar, syrup, and eggs creates the interior of the pie, and, while baking, the pecans rise up to the top, leaving a soft layer of tasty goodness below.
Early pecan pies were made with molasses or maple syrup, but it’s popularity took off across the South in the 1920s when the manufacturer of Karo syrup began printing a recipe for pecan pie on its cans.
The rest is history. And, an awfully tasty one, too.
With Thanksgiving coming in a few weeks, we hope you enjoy your time with family and we certainly hope that y’all are enjoying a delicious dessert table no matter which pies you choose.
