A Bitter Taste

This is one of those times that I recall that silly joke "When is a car, not a car?" If you've never heard it before the answer may not be so obvious, but I find that once the answer is known, the saying comes as naturally as anything. "A car is not a car when it turns into a driveway." So, I think that now that we've gotten through the answer we can agree that is 1) funny... in that stupidly obvious joke sort of way and 2) a pretty intuitive thing to say afterwords. This raises my question though. "When is a pie not a pie?"

Now, to first clarify a potential point of confusion (while intentionally avoiding formal definitions). When I say "pie", I am specifically referring to that (usually) round, edible, dessert/breakfast/snack food dish.I am not being tricky and referencing a letter in the Greek alphabet, nor am I thinking about the irrational number between 3 and 4... That would obviously be irrational to assume. So, we're now on the same page as to what "pie" I am thinking of, and we can now address when said pie is in fact... potentially... not a pie.

This question first came to me when I sat down at a friends house for some dessert. For said dessert, we were presented a beautiful Tart. That's right... you all thought I was going to say PIE!!! But no, twas not a pie, but a tart. Now, I have no doubt that you can all envision a tart without too much trouble. So, just as you might picture, we had that light brown, gram-cracker-like crust, with a custard filling topped with an assortment of colorful fruits. Now, before I begin to delve into my dilemma a bit more, I want to mention that the Tart was delicious.

So, moving on... we see a tart now, before us. We're eating and enjoying it. And then the question arises... "What is the difference between a Pie and a Tart?" Has anyone wondered this before? I'm sure you have! You may not know you wondered it... but the wonder was there. Well, I decided to pose a theory to debate as we ate (rhymed...). I raised the question, and proposed (foolishly) that a Tart was clearly made with fruit as a focus. This was quickly countered with examples of apple, peach, blueberry, etc... pies. So I retracted my theory and wondered a bit.

I thought about what my previous impressions of tarts had been, and there I thought I had it. In my mind when I envision a tart it is a small, single serving dish. I figured a tart was perhaps a small pie! But no, the tart we were in the midst of consuming was the same size as a typical pie, so that thought went out the window. My friend proposed then that a tart did not have a crust covering it. Nodding, it seemed to make sense. I can think of no tart I've ever had that was covered. But then... there were the thoughts of pumpkin pie. I do love pumpkin pie with whipped cream, but that's not the point. Were pumpkin the only exception we might have still gone with it, but there are other pies, like chocolate, that had to sway us to deny this theory.

With all current theories denied, we thought about the name, "tart". Was this a description of the dish? No! What we were eating was sweet, not tart. And if a pie isn't fully ripe, it can be tart, while still being a pie! Perhaps it was a flaky crust versus a gram cracker crust? Again, counters were provided. Frustrated, and out of ideas, I was defeated, gave up, and resided myself to another slice of tart...

With a bitter (not tart) taste in my mouth from losing an argument to my food, I sought the answers at home. I looked up the definitions, and discovered no clear distinction between the two. I even found the claim that the two categories frequently overlap. Still not satisfied, the question stuck with me. This last August I was at a 1 week seminar and dessert one night was... that's right... a tart! I got a chance to speak with the chef afterwords and inquired to the difference. Not knowing, she sought her resources to return with the answer. Upon her return, she went through the definition and claimed that she too saw no true distinction. With that I was willing to let the topic drop, as I figured if she did not know, nobody would.

I thanked her for checking, and she said it was an intriguing question. She asked about the history of this puzzlement to me, and I explained. Then, as she got up to leave, she mentioned... "What about a cheesecake?" AND I WAS DOOMED! Cheesecake falls into none of these categories and I cannot define it. I have not sought the definition. I've decided I will not lose another fight to this realm of dessert, and will instead continue to eat it and enjoy!