National Pie Day (23rd January): Celebration, History, Meaning and Facts

Mixi January 13, 2022 | 14:35

Are you a huge fan of pie? Do you know that there is a day people appreciate pie?

National Pie Day. Photo: KnowInsiders

When is National Pie Day in the US?

Pies have been around for thousands of years and the recipe hasn’t changed much. It’s still a pastry that’s filled with something, either sweet or savory, and served on a plate or dish that it’s baked in. It’s simple, it’s effective and it’s incredibly filling.

The pie day is usually celebrated on 23rd January. This day is an unofficial holiday in America, while people love to celebrate it enthusiastically. This day was celebrated from the 1970s to this day. And let’s know a little bit about this delicious dish.

What Is National Pie Day?

"January 23rd is National Pie Day, a time to celebrate the day with pie," the council states on its website. "... We are encouraging pie lovers everywhere to host pie parties across the country. Whether it be with your friends, family, or co-workers, share some pie on January 23rd."

Of course, every day can be "pie day" if you try hard enough, but some restaurants—mostly local restaurants and regional chains—end up marking the date with free pie, discounts on pie, and other pie promotions. Michigan's Grand Traverse Pie Company, for example, is serving up free slices with any purchase throughout the special day.

History of National Pie Day

One of the oldest prepared foods, pie shows up in written recipes dating back as far as the ancient Romans. The first known pie recipe was for a rye-crusted goat cheese and honey pie. The Romans made pies with a variety of meats, seafood, and fruit, and developed a dense pie called placenta, similar to cheesecake. At sumptuous Roman feasts, pie played a role in several courses.

Until recently, pie crust was mostly used as a vehicle for filling. Unlike many of today’s luscious, buttery crusts, early pie crusts often didn’t get eaten at all. The crust acted as a container to keep the meat moist and prevent it from burning.

Pies first appeared in England in the 12th century, still mostly filled with meat. The dubious origin of some pie fillings gave rise to jokes and horror stories, including the penny dreadful that would become “Sweeney Todd.”

Photo: Checkiday

When the Puritans and other English settlers fled for the New World, they took pie with them. But although no American Thanksgiving table is complete without sweet pumpkin and pecan pies, sweet pies didn’t make an appearance at the so-called “First Thanksgiving” and pumpkin pie didn’t become popular until the 1800s. Today, sweet pies overwhelmingly outsell savory pies, and pumpkin pie is an enduring fixture of the Thanksgiving meal.

Not to be confused with National Pi Day, National Pie Day has nothing to do with math and everything to do with that sweet American treat. Created in the 1970s by Charlie Papazian (who conveniently placed the day on his birthday), National Pie Day encourages us all to take a break with America’s favorite dessert.

How to Celebrate National Pie Day?

The best way to celebrate national pie day is to spend time with friends and have a sugary pie just for this particular day and by sharing the sweet pie crusts with homeless folks. You can bake different pies using easy pie recipes and sell them. Pie making is an art; make sure to check out all the recipes and give a shoutout on social media on the eve of the national pie.

You can even try to make some new variety of pies and present them to the neighbors, and it can be the best way of celebrating pie day national tradition. Another best way to celebrate national pie day is to visit pie shops and share on social media. Try out different pies like pumpkin pie, honey pie, pie with ice cream, apple pie, pie made of goat cheese, fruit pies, pumpkin lemon meringue pie, pecan, etc.; enjoy the slice of pie with a brewer. The lemon meringue pies are loaded with flavor and are top sellers on the menu during the pie day event.

This day national pie day can be used for any purpose, even for a single day to enjoy a slice of pecan pie in your life. This food is one of the Major dishes that is so much healthier and tastier. And pie recipe is said to be one of its kind because of its brief history and rich pie heritage. So, start celebrating this day on January 23 with a treat to the apple pie lovers. Try out all the pies recipe by making a list of them.

Start Making Pies

Although it is possible to simply buy the pies from a bakery or store (especially because there will likely be sales or even free pie!), we do suggest trying to make your own pies. This will give a greater appreciation for pie as you can learn more about the process, pick up some new cooking skills, and maybe even learn the history of pies and how they were made in the past.

Host a Bake Off

Invite friends, family or co-workers to a National Pie Day bakeoff challenge. Whether choosing sweet or savory, it’s always loads of fun to gather people around a common interest (and what could be more interesting than pie?). However, the champion of the pie contest could win a creative prize such as a special parking spot at work, a free lunch, or even a giant box filled with pie baking supplies. Of course, those volunteering to be judges are the real winners because they get to taste all of the scrumptious pies!

Watch a Pie-Themed Film

Okay, a film centered completely around pie probably wouldn’t be that great. After all, it would probably just make people want to eat! However, some films have scenes that feature prominently within their larger plots.

Play Pie-Themed Music

Most people don’t think about the fact that many songs and poems have been written around the theme of pie. From oldies to metal to pop, pie songs have been made available for more than 40 years, no matter what kind of musical taste a person has.

Why do we Celebrate National Pie Day?

There is no particular reason to celebrate national pie day; this day is to solely celebrate the pie, Because of its history and the legacy of this legendary dish. This day is celebrated to remind everyone how it evolved and still intact with society today and its deliciousness. These are the reasons to celebrate this day. Charlie Papazian is the reason why we celebrate national pie day on January 23, and to understand how much he loved pie.

Difference Between National Pi Day and National Pie Day

National Pie Day occurs every year on January 23, whereas Pi Day (celebrating the mathematical constant 3.141592653) is celebrated every year on March 14 as 3,1, and 4 are the first three digits of pi.

Photo: Chowhound

What Is Pi Day?

To learn about pi, we need to go back a few thousand years and learn about this elusive number. The value of pi was first calculated by Archimedes of Syracuse (287–212 BC), one of the greatest mathematicians of the ancient world.

However, it was first baptized with the Greek letter as its name when William Oughtred called it as such in his works dating back to 1647, later embraced by the scientific community when Leonhard Euler used the symbol in 1737.

But how did Pi Day end up in a country-wide phenomenon? For that, we need to travel to the Exploratorium in 1988 San Francisco, where it was thought up by physicist Larry Shaw.

Shaw linked March 14 with the first digits of pi (3.14) in order to organize a special day to bond the Exploratorium staff together, where he offered fruit pies and tea to everyone starting at 1:59 pm, the following three digits of the value. A few years later, after Larry’s daughter, Sara, remarked that the special date was also the birthday of Albert Einstein, they started celebrating the life of the world-famous scientist.

Pi Day became an annual Exploratorium tradition that still goes on today, and it didn’t take long for the idea to grow exponentially, hitting a peak on March 12, 2009, when the U.S Congress declared it a national holiday.

Now, celebrated by math geeks all around the circumference of the world, Pi Day became a pop culture phenomenon, with several places partaking in the activities, antics, observations and all the pie eating they can.

5 Interesting Facts about Pie

Photo: Eleven10

American Pie remains mostly unexplained

Though we know that “the day the music died” refers to the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly and others, Don McLean has remained famously mum about the meaning of the song’s other enigmatic lyrics.

Getting pied dates back to silent film

Laurel & Hardy’s 1927 film The Battle of the Century featured a pie fight that used around 4,000 pies.

Pie might taste best at the Bradys’

In a 2008 survey, 40% of respondents agreed that Carol Brady, of all TV moms, would bake the best pie.

Sweeney Todd redefined meat pies

Johnny Depp gave a memorable performance in Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd as the “demon barber of Fleet Street” who murders his clients so his neighbor can bake them into pies.

Walter White’s iconic pizza scene spawned copycats

After the success of the show Breaking Bad, a few fans recreated a memorable scene by throwing pizza onto the roof of the house where it was filmed. Unfortunately, the current owners didn’t appreciate the reenactment and installed a fence to keep overzealous groupies at bay.

January 23rd Celebrated (and Not So Celebrated) History

1849

Elizabeth Blackwell receives her medical degree from Geneva Medical College becoming the first woman to earn a medical degree. Blackwell would serve as a mentor for many women seeking admittance into the medical field.

1907

Kansas elects the first Native American Senator. During his career as a politician, Curtis would serve as the Senate Majority Leader, support the 19th Amendment and become the first Native American Vice President when Herbert Hoover won the election in 1928.

1930

After discovering the ninth planet, Clyde Tombaugh photographs Pluto. The 24-year-old was assigned the systematic task of searching the galaxy for the planet after predictions by other astronomers. Tombaugh made his discovery at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Pluto has since been demoted to a dwarf planet.

1943

The talented jazz star, Duke Ellington makes his Carnegie Hall debut. Ellington premiered Black, Brown, and Beige that night and would make it a tradition to debut a new song each year at his Carnegie Hall concerts.

1973

President Richard Nixon addresses the nation to announce that a Vietnam peace agreement had been reached in Paris.

1986

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, inducts its first ten members: Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley.