In the summer of 1979, I went on tour with the Youth Symphony of the United States. It was the summer between my junior and senior years at the Eastman School of Music; I had hair, I was thin, I was young.
It was a great trip, even though it entailed spending three weeks in hot, humid Houston, Texas, to prepare our repertoire. Then, for the next 8 weeks, we toured by bus from Texas to the north and east..
In Houston, we stayed at Rice University, and ate our meals in their cafeteria. I was unaccustomed to any accents other than those of my native Philadelphia, least of all those from the deep south. It was like learning a new language.
"Mep you?" the woman behind the sneeze guard asked. I looked confused. Eventually i learned that translated to, "May I help you?" After choosing my main course, she asked, "Inwa ess?" (And what else?) I thought I would be fine when we got to desserts but then she asked of I wanted a slice of "lem'n chess pah." What the heck was lemon cheese pie? Was it a cheesecake?
So I asked her what kind of cheese was in the pie, and she just laughed. "Honey, ain't no chiz in the pah, 'tall!" "Well, okay," I said, "I'll try a piece..."
It wasn't until 2008 that I mentioned this to my coworkers, sisters Beverly and Karen, who are originally from Texas. Their grandfather made lemon chess pie and they gave me the recipe. It is flawless.
According to James Beard, this is a pie that originated in England and was found both in the northern and southern United States but, for some reason, is now associated only with Southern cuisine.
As with most folk recipes, there are as many variants as there are cooks - some with cornmeal, some with vinegar, some with butter, some with Crisco, and some with no lemon at all. They are just "chess pies."
Beverly's grandfather's version took me straight back to the day I first had lemon chess pie on a hot, humid day in Texas. All at once I was young again, had hair, and a waistline. Aren't memories wonderful?
~ David
Lemon Chess Pie
1 9-inch or 10-inch pie crust, unbaked (recipe follows)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons melted butter or shortening
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Roll out crust and line pie plate. Crimp the edges and place in the refrigerator while you make the filling.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Beat eggs well, but not until they are frothy. Frothy eggs cause the pie to bubble.
Add the sugar, flour and vanilla, and beat well with a whisk. Beat in the melted butter then, starting slowly so as not to have it fly out of the bowl, beat in lemon juice.
Pour filling into the pie shell and bake for 45 minutes, until top is nicely browned.
Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Serves 8.
Food Processor Butter Pie Crust
1 1/3 cups flour
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup ice water
Place flour in the bowl of the food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add butter in 16 pieces. Pulse 10 times. Sprinkle ice water on top of the butter and flour, and then pulse until dough forms a ball. Labels: chess pie, eggs, lemon, lemon chess pie, pie
