Abby Smith, Pie Bar
So, why do they call it “Chess Pie”?
It’s the question we’ve all been asking, but tragically, the answers seem to elude us. Chess pie itself is a product of butter, sugar, eggs and flour contained within a single crust. And sometimes it contains cornmeal. That’s pretty straightforward, but we want to know—what’s with the name?
Well, wonder no more; or, actually, wonder just a little bit because there’s no concrete answer. The most probable cause for this pie’s unique name is... drum roll, please… a mispronunciation! It has been speculated that at some point in its history, chess pie was formerly called “cheese pie”. But people mispronounce stuff, you know. It’s what they do. And sometimes it just sticks. Alternatively, chess pie could stem from the name “chest pie” (because people used to store their pie in chests, before we had the luxuries of refrigeration).
But my favorite theory is that the phrase “It’s just pie” was condensed into “chess pie” over time. So I’m guessing someone must have at some point in time asked, “What kind of pie is that?” only to be told that it’s just pie, which is not very helpful. So, thank you for that. Whoever you are, I guess you invented the name for a really delicious pie, and we pie lovers appreciate your contribution.