78. To be most palatable, pastry should be served as soon as possible
after it is baked. When it is allowed to stand for any length of time,
the lower crust becomes soaked with moisture from the filling used, and
in this state the pie is not only unpalatable, but to a certain extent
indigestible. Consequently, whenever it is possible, only enough for one
meal should be baked at a time.
After a pie is taken from the oven, it should not be removed from the
pan in which it is baked until it is served. In fact, pie with a tender
crust cannot be handled easily and so should be cut while it is still in
the pan. Often it is best to serve a pie warm. When this is to be done,
it can be served immediately upon being taken from the oven, or if it
has been baked for some time and is cold, it may be set in the oven and
reheated before serving. Such treatment will freshen any pie that has
become more or less stale and, as is well known, pie is much more
palatable when it is warm and fresh than when it is cold or stale. In
case pies must be kept before being served, they should be stored in a
place that is both cold and dry. A refrigerator is too damp and for this
reason should not be used; but any other cool place that is sufficiently
dry will be satisfactory.
79. Several ways of serving pie are in practice. This dessert may be
baked in attractive dishes especially designed for this purpose and then
served from them at the table, or it may be baked in an ordinary pie pan
and then placed on a plate larger than the pan for serving. Pie of the
usual size is generally divided into five or six pieces, a sharp knife
being used to cut it. If possible, a pie knife, which is narrow at the
end of the blade and gradually grows broader until the handle is
reached, where it is very broad, should be provided for the serving of
this dessert, for it helps very much in handling the triangular pieces
that are cut from a large pie. The plates on which pie is served should
be at least as large as salad plates. Very often, instead of serving it
from the pan at the table, it is put on plates in the kitchen and passed
at the table. Pie is always eaten with a fork, one that is smaller than
a dinner fork being used.
80. With most pies containing fruit filling, a small piece of cheese,
preferably highly flavored cheese, may be served. This makes a very good
accompaniment so far as flavor is concerned, but is omitted in some
meals because it may supply too much food value or too much protein.
However, if the fact that a high-protein food is to be served at the end
of the meal is taken into account when the remainder of the meal is
planned, there need be no hesitancy in serving cheese with pie. Of
course, when cheese is to be included in the meal in this way, the
portions of the protein foods served with the main course should
be smaller.
81. A very attractive as well as appetizing way in which to serve pie is
known as _pie à la mode_. This method of serving, which is often
resorted to when something extra is desired, consists in placing a
spoonful or two of ice cream of any flavor on each serving of apple or
other fruit pie. Pie served in this way is high in food value and is a
general favorite with persons who are fond of both ice cream and pie.
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