I have been thinking about the upcoming pie competition hosted by The Food Experiment, from Brooklyn. This pie face off will be on Sunday, at The Middle East in Cambridge. When I first heard about this event I was very excited to participate, and had visions of all different sweet recipes dancing through my head. As the heat of summer overtook us, the thought of baking seemed less and less appealing, until I decided not to participate. So, I will be an eager attendee on Sunday, sampling all the different pies that the competitors offer.
Last night, I went to meet the organizers and some of the competitors at a party sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery.* The Food Experiment is going to be a really exciting event! I met several fellow food enthusiasts and heard their thoughts on pie baking for the masses. I was expecting to be intimidated by professional chefs and bakers. Who I met were people from all backgrounds, and of all professions, none of which seemed to be a chef.
According to Theo Peck, one of the organizers, this competition is unusual in that there will be more sweet pies than savory pies. This is good news to me, as a meat pie is about as unappealing a pie as I can conjure up. With twenty-eight competitors and fifteen people on the waiting list, The Food Experiment drummed up plenty of interest. I’m looking forward to tasting the variety of pies that will be presented, including strawberry-rhubarb, gluten-free banana cream pie, Indian spiced butter pie, and peanut-butter-chocolate-pretzel pie.
Perhaps next year I will have the time and gumption to participate. For now, I’m just an enthusiastic pie eater. For those of you in the Boston area, I hope you’ll come out on Sunday to taste the pies too! Sounds like a food event not to be missed.
*Brooklyn was serving a new experimental beer concoction that was smokey and full of gingery spices. I don’t know when this beer will hit the market (if ever), but if you see it on tap, make sure to order a pint.