Tarts

[ladyofastolat]

Prompted by a question on Sporcle: (Yup, still addicted

Comments

[inamac]

Um, is it very wrong of me to ask about the position of Lemon Meringue Pie in this conversation?

I'm of the 'lid = pie, open = tart/flan' persuasion.

I suppose a meringue topping counts as a lid.

[ladyofastolat]

I shall have to ask my Dad how lemon meringue pies fit into his definition. I don't think I've ever heard him say "lemon meringue tart." But, then, he doesn't like sugar, so it's not an object that he is likely to talk about much.

[sally_maria]

Well, basically I agree that pies have lids, whether apple pies or steak and kidney.

On the other hand, I'm not sure I can imagine a savoury tart, because all the savoury things I know have lids. (As I said in my other comment, quiches are something quite different in my brain, whether that's logical or not.)

So the distinguishing feature is the presence or absence of a lid, but on the other hand, all tarts are also sweet.

[ladyofastolat]

I couldn't think of any savoury tarts, either, but I googled "savoury tarts", limiting results to pages from the UK, and found loads of recipes (e.g. Delia's, here.) It's all very confusing. :-)

[bunn]

When I was growing up we used to have 'apple pies' which had lids but not bottoms - basically, a pile of apple in a dish and a pastry lid on the top.

I'm not sure that 'tart' is a word that I use, except in the context of jam. And I don't think I say 'flan' either.

[philmophlegm]

One pie that wouldn't work if it had a lid is the Tiswas-style custard pie.

[ladyofastolat]

And mud pies, too. Mud pies don't have pastry lids, except perhaps in very upper class households.

[chainmailmaiden]

Looking in my copy of The Book of Old Tarts I am informed that the distinguishing feature of a tart is that it must have a pastry base, whether or not it has a pasty lid is irrelevant according to the author and just to confuse things she also sees no point in trying to distinguish between tarts, pies, quiches and cheesecakes... She doesn't mention size, but to me a family sized thing is a tart and individual sized ones are tartlets.

The book really is very good, I highly recommend it, despite the fact it has no pictures which I do always find useful in a recipe book. There are recipes for both sweet and savoury tarts dating back to Roman times. A lot of what she describes as savoury tarts I'd generally call a quiche as they contain a filling bound together by egg, but I do wonder if calling them tarts might make them more acceptable to those prejudiced against quiches because of their 80s connotations.