Slow Food Seacoast hosts its first anniversary event and pie baking contest

Think you’ve got what it takes to make a killer (no, not literally) pie? Are you looking for a chance to prove to the world (or at least to locals) that your dessert can trump any other? Then pack up your pans and oven mitts and test your skills among like-minded bakers at the Slow Food Seacoast’s one-year anniversary picnic and pie contest on Sunday, July 1 at the Warren Farm in Barrington, aptly dubbed the “Down on the Farm” picnic.

For the people at Slow Food, pies are more than Thanksgiving Day treats—they’re a form of edible art. “Pie, at its simplest, is some sort of cooked filling contained in some sort of pastry,” the Slow Food Web site states. The definition makes it seem as if almost anything could become a pie if enough corn syrup were added and the right temperatures were applied, and Slow Food heartily agrees. “By this broad definition, it’s easy to see that there’s hardly a world cuisine that doesn’t feature some kind of pie,” the Web site reads. The site goes on to list a few examples, including samosas, egg rolls and deep-fried fruit pies.

So how on earth did the pie manage to insert itself into kitchens in every corner of the globe? Once again, Slow Food has the answer. “The secret to the popularity of pies is that they help food stay preserved,” the Web site states. “By mixing foods with salts, sugars, or liqueurs to delay spoiling, and then enclosing the food in a pastry shell to prevent air reaching the inner parts, pie cooks through the ages have created meals that would last months in dry, cool storage, or be perfectly suited to cook the night before and then pack for an un-refrigerated lunch away from home the following day.”

Slow Food is here to remind us to pay a little more attention to pie, and all foods, for that matter. Michelle Moon, co-founder of the Slow Food Seacoast branch, says that in addition to providing a wide array of dessert foods, the contest will foster the organization’s mission in the community. “The goal of Slow Food is to get people to slow their lives down a little bit, and we thought this would be a good way to get people to get out and pick their own ingredients, make the pastry themselves—just stop and enjoy summer for a few minutes.”

Slow Food Seacoast is the regional branch of the non-profit organization Slow Food International and Slow Food U.S.A., with a mission aimed at getting people to “slow down the pace of life and remember to enjoy our local and regional food traditions, support local growers and food producers, get to know our community resources and one another, and make sure that good, clean, and fair food is available to everyone on the Seacoast.” Started just a year ago by a group of five friends, the local chapter now boasts a mailing list of close to 300 people and has a consistent following of nearly 40 group members. Slow Food hosts monthly potluck and discussion meetings and presents frequent educational events that are open to the public. The pie contest and potluck picnic culminates a year of community involvement. A donation of $3 per person is suggested, and all guests are encouraged to bring a simple potluck dish to share.

For those interested in achieving a baking victory, the rules for pie contest entries are simple. Contest categories include the people’s choice award, best traditional pie and best original pie. “I don’t know, maybe people will throw chipotle peppers into it or something,” Moon said of the final category. Submissions will be consumed in the voting process, with two thirds being chopped into small bites for the public to taste and the last third served to the judges. Each pie is judged based on taste (75 percent) and appearance (25 percent). But the strict judging process is not meant to discourage amateurs from submitting their creations to the contest. On its Web site, Slow Foods encourages everyone to participate. “Why not try a pie? Anything goes. Make some pastry. Make some filling. Put them together. Bake them. Mm-mm! Keep the American pie tradition alive!”

For more information and still more pie and pastry facts, visit www.slowfoodseacoast.com.