The City's Best Blueberry Pie!

[ahr]

Having recently accomplished the miracle of traversing Maine without sampling so much as a bite of blueberry pancake or pie, I’m planning to compensate when blowing my diet in a few weeks on my birthday.

Already planned is breakfast of pancakes at Shopsin’s in the Village, but still I crave the pie.  So, who has the city’s best blueberry pie?  Tiny wild berries are a plus, as is a crumb topping (does anybody remember Ebinger’s huckleberry crumb pie?), but neither is absolutely necessary.

Suggestions?

[Fat Guy]

I've had some terrific pies from the Union Square Greenmarket. I can't recall whether there was specifically blueberry involved, but I have to assume that in season those would be available. To me, the most important part of a fruit pie is the fruit. If it is ripe and sweet and fresh it doesn't need as much refined sugar and therefore lends more character to the pie. Crust matters too, but not as much -- I'll eat a tart, a pie, whatever, or even pick around the crust, as long as the filling is good. The Breezy Hill people (Wednesday and Saturday) have great stuff, and I think the Berkshire Berries folks sometimes have pies but I'm not positive.

My favorite expressions of this genre, however, are the deep-as-the-ocean fruit tarts at Petrossian, but these are emphatically not your classic Midwestern-American-style fruit pies. They have savory ingredients (ginger, etc.) mixed in to cut the sweetness, and they come in a puff-pastry crust not a pie crust. Still, to me they're the best. And they use really good fruit and lots of it.

Making your own pie is also a really good option. That way you can make a pie crust with lard, which nobody does in the commercial universe here in New York, and you can buy the best fruit. Pies are one of the easier things in the world to make -- only the crust requires the slightest effort.

[ahr]

It must be blueberry, a pie, and more or less traditional.  I haven't yet put much effort into research, as I won't need it for a few weeks (by which time those tiny wild blueberries may well be out of season, I fear); nonetheless,

- Upon quick inspection, only one Wednesday baker at the Union Square Greenmarket, selling from a generic rent-a-truck at the northernmost exit from the NQ<Q>RW subway, looked to use anything but the dreaded Generic Vegetable Shortening.  These folks advertised not lard, but at least "a lovely butter crust."

- According to their price list, the Little Pie Company, whose tender, high-domed old-fashioned apple pies I like even better than their more acclaimed sour cream apple walnut, makes only cherry and multi-berry pies, and not pure b-berry.

- A microscopic free sample of blueberry pound cake at Eli's on Third Avenue was incredibly rich and buttery, but the pies remain a mystery.

There hasn't been too much action in this thread.  Perhaps I'll prospect elsewhere and report back.

[This may merit a separate thread:  The heirloom tomatoes this year, particularly those from Sycamore Farms, have been excellent.]

(Edited by ahr at 11:06 pm on Aug. 23, 2001)

(Edited by ahr at 11:12 pm on Aug. 23, 2001)

[ahr]

This thread hasn't prompted much discussion, so I thought I'd bump it up top again with a status report.

Does anyone know of a blueberry crumb pie that will satisfy yearnings for the long-gone Ebinger's huckleberry?  Balducci's sells an oversized, good-looking pie of unknown provenance, and Bigelow's Clams out on the Island serves a pretty tasty slice, but that's all I've dug up so far.

[ahr]

Quick update:

Balducci's... Good filling; unpleasantly greasy mouth feel to the crumbs; don't remember the crust.  Not terrible, but significantly overpriced.

Union Square Greenmarket (vendor immediately north of the northernmost BMT exit on the park's west side)... Not crumb (latticed instead), and not really a pie, though pie-shaped -- more like my mother's delicious blueberry coffee cake.  Tasty, thick, soft, buttery crust; relatively few whole berries with minimal goo.

Jean Danet French Pastries (Bay Ridge).  Better than Balducci's at a third the price (though a bit smaller in diameter).  Not Ebinger's, but pretty good filling, crust, and crumbs.

[wingding]

Blueberries are way out of season,so it's not the time to find an ideal pie.Anything that you buy right now will most likely be made from frozen or preerved berries.I think that the best blueberry pies are made with a combination of cooked and raw berries-two very different flavors and textures.No local berries till July!

[thereuare]

There is a bakery in Nanuet/New City that supplies MUCH of the pies and cakes that are served in NYC restaurants.  It's called Carousel(??) and their desserts are FANTASTIC!

They do sell to the public, but they come frozen and take about a day or two to thaw (so plan accordingly).  I've never had their blueberry pie (but they probably make one), but i've had their apple crumb and it's quite good, and i've also had their cheesecake with a blueberry top, which was also excellent.  My favorite from them is the apple pie, so please try the blueberry and let us know what you think.

[Fat Guy]

It's amazing, isn't it, how unskilled most bakeries are at publicizing themselves? I mean, the good restaurants in New York are all well-known. The bakeries are often secret.