Pam Wischkaemper’s blueberry pie.

Most of us read recipes for guidance when we cook. This is especially true for new cooks. But for those of us who have cooked for a long time, we’ve learned that recipes can sometimes miss something.

I have found that particularly true when it comes to fruit pies. Most fruit carries with it a variety of tastes determined mainly by how ripe it is. If you buy your strawberries at a supermarket, you might find they are watery and have no taste at all. Think about those great big ones dipped in chocolate: they taste mainly of chocolate. If you actually tried the berry on its own, it would hardly make your taste buds wake up. But if you pick your own at a local field, your taste experience will be quite different. The fruit might be small, but when popped in your mouth, the flavor explodes because the berries have ripened naturally under the sun and in the field where they belong.

Blueberries are my favorite example of the taste test. When it comes to blueberries, we have a choice here in Maine, and there are advocates for both: high bush or wild low bush. As a lover of blueberry pie, I long ago tried an experiment to figure out which berries met my personal taste test. I had been buying my berries from a local grower at the Bath Farmers’ Market for years and decided to see if the low-bush fans were right: Do they make the best pies?

The result for me was no. Because the berries are so small, they have little of the acid found in the high-bush variety, and they also have more sugar because the berry is so dense. As they cook, they jell, so the pie is filled with sweet blueberry jam and has no juice. Nothing wrong with that. Many cooks like the jammy texture. I , however, am a lover of a juicy, less sweet pie.

I then tried a combination of both low- and high-bush berries, but was still not satisfied. The sweetness was too much for my palate. So I returned to my old favorite, the high-bush berry. The pie made from these berries will be juicy with a nice tart finish. To my taste, it is perfect.

For all you cooks, what is the lesson from all this? For a satisfying fruit pie, you need to taste what goes in it. A truly ripe piece of fruit will give you and your family a pie that you’ll all eat with pleasure. It’s a pie that no amount of sugar will help, as the taste comes from the fruit’s natural ripeness. The old adage of cooking with local ingredients certainly holds true when it comes to a blueberry pie or any other fruit pie.

And what is the lesson here about recipes? Taste, taste and taste again. No matter what your cooking level, your taste buds will guide you. Trust yourself. The end result will bring smiles all around at your table.

Pam Wischkaemper’s blueberry pie. Photo by Pam Wischkaemper

BLUEBERRY PIE

This basic pie and crust recipe comes from a 1965 “Betty Crocker’s New Picture Cookbook,” which I received as a new bride in 1965. The pages are brown and falling apart, but I still go back to it for some favorites. Over all the years I’ve baked blueberry pie, I’ve made changes to the recipe. A few hints: Remember when rolling dough to work quickly and keep the surfaces well floured. If you prefer not to use lard, you can use butter. Lard, however, makes a very flakey crust. For a rolling pin, I use a long maple dowel.

Yield: 1 (to my mind, perfect) blueberry pie

FOR THE CRUST:

1½ cups flour
3/4  teaspoon salt
1/2 cup lard
3 tablespoons water, chilled

Whisk the flour and salt together in a mixing bowl. Cut in the lard with a pastry blender or 2 forks. The lard should be roughly pea sized. Add the water. With your hands, form the dough into a smooth ball. Work quickly. If the mixture is too dry, add another tablespoon of water. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1/2 hour. This allows gluten to relax and will make the dough easier to roll.

FOR THE BLUEBERRY PIE FILLING:

3 cups fresh high-bush blueberries
1/4 cup flour
1/4 to 3/4 cup sugar (taste berries for tartness before adding sugar)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for the egg wash

Place the berries in a mixing bowl. Add the flour, sugar and cinnamon and toss together.

When you are ready to bake the pie, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Remove the pie dough from the fridge and divide it into 2 rounds. Flatten into 2 disks. Turn 1 disk onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough to about 1/8-inch thick. As you roll, rotate the dough to make sure it is not sticking. Sprinkle more flour as needed. Roll the dough round around the rolling pin and unroll it into a pie pan.

Add the blueberry filling to the dough in the pie pan. Top with the tablespoon of butter, broken into small pieces. Moisten the outside rim of dough with cold water. Add the second rolled crust over the filling. Press around the edges to seal. Trim away excess dough around edges. Flute the edges and brush the top crust with the egg wash.  Cut 4 steam holes in center of pie.

Place the pie in the preheated oven. Bake 40 minutes or until the filling is bubbling. When done, place on rack to cool for at least an hour.

Pam Wischkaemper in her kitchen. Photo courtesy of Pam Wischkaemper

MEET THE COOK, Pam Wischkaemper

“I love to cook. It has been a passion of mine for my entire adult life. I am 81 years old and still cooking for anyone who will come and join me.

“I actually did have a career in food. You can google me and find out about it, including a column I wrote for years for the San Diego Union-Tribune (at that time. it was known as the North County Times). But it was not as a chef. I did do a good deal of teaching in my early career, and found my niche in helping folks learn the basics and understand that great-tasting food does not need to be fancy. I taught much about using good and fresh ingredients and to trust your own taste buds. I have always loved to entertain and have hosted so many dinner parties I’ve lost count. I still cook for myself most nights even though I live alone, but I also have folks in frequently to share my table because I do love to cook and most people my age do not.

“My early life was in San Francisco in the ’70’s. I was taught by some of the best: Alice Waters, Marion Cunningham and James Beard. I keep a very clean, neat and organized kitchen, and because I went to cooking school in France, I use very few pots and pans and cook in a very small place. I also clean as I go. My style in the kitchen is to have fun, but to be fully prepared and be willing to put the time in to make every dish taste good.”