[HPFGU-OTChatter] Pies, puddings, biscuits and tarts

[Jennifer Boggess Ramon]

At 3:24 PM +0000 3/19/03, David wrote:
>
>Are crackers baked twice?  This is in my mind the essential
>definition of a biscuit.

Hmm . . . a sweet quickbread baked twice would be called "biscotti" 
here and would generally be served with an espresso coffee or one of 
its derivatives.

>  > Here's another one. Brits as well. What's the difference between a
>  > tart and a pie?
>
>A tart has no lid, only a base, and the filling is sweet.  If the
>filling is savoury, or there is a lid (base or not), it's probably a
>pie, though some things with savoury filling and a base may be
>quiche or flan.  To confuse things, flans can be sweet as well.
>Clear?  Good.

Well, an apple pie has a base and a lid, and it's sweet, but a 
strawberry pie has no lid, just the base, and it's definitely a pie, 
not a tart.  Ditto a lemon meringue pie, or any meringue pie, for 
that matter.

Here, a pie is baked in a pie plate - flat bottom, sloping sides, all 
one piece.  A tart is baked in either a springform pan or a tart pan 
- flat bottom, straight sides; the sides can be removed for serving. 
(A springform pan has fairly high sides; a tart pan is usually pretty 
shallow.)  Pies have not only a bottom crust but a crust along the 
sides, and usually some sort of fluted or crimped edge to the sides. 
Tarts have short sides or almost no side at all, and no flute or 
crimp.

-- 

  - Boggles, aka J. C. B. Ramon			boggles at earthlink.net
"It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the 
act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment. "
	- Gauss, in a Letter to Bolyai, 1808.