The capital of pie

— Jane and Michael Stern, who were born in 1946 and were married from 1970-2008, are known for their many books about American food. The first edition of Roadfood was published in 1977, with the most recent edition released in 2011. Three decades ago, the couple did an extensive interview with People magazine.

When asked what part of the country had the best regional cooking, Michael Stern responded: “The Deep South. It’s a stewpot of different influences and dishes. There’s New Orleans Creole, Louisiana Cajun, Southern fried chicken, barbecue, catfish, Arkansas pies, country ham and redeye gravy.”

Yes, he singled out Arkansas for pie. Asked directly who serves the best pie, Michael Stern said later in the interview: “Arkansas is the greatest pie state. We found terrific Karonut pies in a converted shed called Family Pie Shop in DeValls Bluff.”

Enter Kat Robinson, a former television producer turned food blogger turned communications pro for the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. Robinson’s book, ArkansasPie: A Delicious Slice of the Natural State, recently was released by The History Press of Charleston, S.C. Robinson worked for three years as a producer for KAIT-TV in Jonesboro and for another eight years as a producer for KTHV-TV in Little Rock before becoming a full-time writer specializing in food and travel pieces.

In his foreword to Arkansas Pie, North Little Rock writer Eric Francis bluntly states, “If I’m hungry and I’m in Arkansas, I let Kat Robinson tell me where to eat. I’d be a fool not to.”

In 2011, the website ICanHas-Cheezburger.com produced a map listing a popular food in each of the 50 states. For Arkansas, there was something called jelly pie. “I called my mom,” Robinson says. “I called my friends. I posted on Facebook and asked questions on Twitter. I even mentioned it on a radio appearance. No one I knew or corresponded with had ever heard of it.”

Robinson posted a response on the website that said in part: “It’s true that Arkansas has no official state food. Butthere are foods that originate here. We host the Hope Watermelon Festival, which claims the world’s largest melons, and the Cave City Watermelon Festival, which serves up the (academically asserted) world’s sweetest melons. We produce a fantastic amount of rice and soybeans. . . . Our state produces fabulous cheese straws, funnel cake mix, yellow corn grits and muscadine wine. We like our pies-oh heavens we do-but we prefer them meringued or creamed or with a little coconut in them.”

Robinson traveled the entire state with photographer Grav Weldon, whose beautiful photographs accompany her words in Arkansas Pie. The majority of my favorite Arkansas restaurants are in this book-the Bulldog at Bald Knob, Burge’s at Lewisville, the Colonial Steak House at Pine Bluff, Ed & Kay’s at Benton, Franke’s in Little Rock, the Hurley House in Hazen, the Kirby Restaurant at (you guessed it) Kirby, Mama Max’s at Prescott, Neal’s Caféin Springdale, the Pickens Store at Pickens, Ray’s at Monticello, Rhoda’s Famous Hot Tamales at Lake Village, Sweet Treats at Lamar, the Wagon Wheel at Greenbrier, the White Pig in North Little Rock and Wood’s Place at Camden, to name just a few.

Arkansas is the pie capital of the country, and I’m willing to declare DeValls Bluff the pie capital of Arkansas since it’s the home of the Family Pie Shop, and also Ms. Lena’s.

“The Pie Shop is not really a restaurant,” Michael Stern writes. “It is more of an annex of Mary Thomas’ home, built out of a former bicycle shed, now filled with tools of the baker’s art. Mrs. Thomas starts making pies in the morning, and by lunchtime there might be half a dozen varieties available, the favorites including pineapple, apple, lemon, coconut and sweet potato, all laid out in gorgeous golden brown crusts that rise up like fragile pastry haloes around their fillings. . . . Mrs. Thomas has been selling pies to the public since 1977. Her customers include pie hounds from all the nearby towns as well as devotees who drive from as far as Little Rock (or in some cases send their chauffeurs) for whole pies to take home. Others wander over from Craig’s Barbecue across the street in search of something sweet and soothing after a bout with fiery barbecue.”

When Robinson was the morning show producer at KTHV, Lena Rice and her kids from Ms. Lena’s came to the studio to talk about fried pies. Robinson said she knew she would be “heading out to DeValls Bluff to pick up more later.” After starting her “Tie Dye Travels” blog in 2007 after leaving television work, Robinson did indeed travel to Ms. Lena’s to interview Viv Barnhill, Lena’s daughter.

“My work made it to Food Network Magazine, my photos made it to Food & Wine and my reputation spread,” Robinson writes. “It can be argued that all that work landed me the job I have today with the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. And it was all over a little pie, a little hand pie.”

A book about pie in the state that reigns as the capital of pie became inevitable.

“Almost every drive-in, diner, family-style restaurant and soul food shack has its own version, and it’s nary a barbecue restaurant that doesn’t have a grand fried pie,” Robinson writes. “You can even find good pie in Chinese restaurants, at service stations and inside flea markets and antique stores. Pie is everywhere in Arkansas.”

Freelance columnist Rex Nelson is the president of Arkansas’ Independent Colleges and Universities. He’s also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.

Editorial, Pages 13 on 01/02/2013

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