Morbid Morsels

Reader Nancy wrote in yesterday to say:

Hey Joe, I love your blog. Don’t you want to charm your readers even more by mentioning the term “coffin” for a crust?

And indeed I do, for I neglected to mention that in Medieval and especially Renaissance Europe, the big, thick tupperware-like pie crusts I blogged about earlier in the week were referred to as “coffins”. These of course had both top and bottom crusts and had straight, instead of sloped, sides (most pies outside of North America are still made in this shape). “Traps” were open-topped versions that functioned exactly like today’s casserole dishes. Thanks Nancy!