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As American
As Pareve Pies
LINDA MOREL | SPECIAL TO THE JE
A t the dawn of the 20th cen-
tury, observant Jewish
women made pie crusts and
other pastries using rendered chicken
fat as shortening!
They actually fried chicken skins
until yellow fat oozed into the pan
— which sounds so savory and Old
World. But this shortening complied
with the Kashrut Laws, which forbid
mixing dairy products and meat at
the same meal. Because butter wasn’t
an option for kosher housewives
serving meat, what else could they
do but turn to schmaltz, glistening
chicken fat?
In 1911, Crisco burst on the scene
as an all-vegetable shortening. Procter
& Gamble, its manufacturer, proudly
promoted Crisco as a kosher food, one
that performed as well as satiny butter
but could be used freely with meat. As
extraordinary as a one-day supply of
oil that lasted eight days, the company
boldly announced, “Crisco was the
miracle for which the Jews have waited
four thousand years.”
Soon synonymous with superior pie
crusts, Crisco became a life-altering,
game changer for kosher bakers. Its
grand entry into kosher kitchens made
modern pie crusts feasible for assim-
ilating Jewish women who wanted
to remain observant while baking
all-American pies.

To this day, a slice of pie and its
tempting crust are pictured on Crisco
containers, indicating to consumers
that the fi nest crusts start with Crisco
shortening. Crust afi cionados agree
that Crisco produces the lightest, fl aki-
est pie crusts, even more so than butter
whose crusts are a bit brittle.

Since its introduction, Crisco has
been a liberator, an equalizer that
off ered kosher women the opportunity
to make pareve pies that compete with
the puffi est, most delicate crusts in
America. Pie Crust | Pareve
To use with all the pie fi lling recipes
below: Equipment:
Regular size (4-cup) pie pan, not
deep dish
Preferably a stand mixer with paddle
attachment, or an electric beater
with fi rm beater attachments
1 pound large dried beans, such as
chickpeas, or pie weights
Rolling pin
Ingredients: Nonstick vegetable spray
2 cups fl our, plus more for
sprinkling ¾ teaspoon granulated salt, not
kosher salt
½ teaspoon sugar
¾ cup Crisco, chilled for 12 hours
or more
3-6 tablespoons ice water
Coat the pie pan with nonstick
spray. Sift the fl our, salt and sugar
into a large bowl. Reserve.

With a soup spoon, scoop the
Crisco into about 5 chunks. Place the
chunks in the bowl of a stand mixer
or a second large mixing bowl. Using
the paddle attachment or electric
mixer’s fi rm beaters, beat the fl our
mixture into the Crisco, about ½ cup
at a time, starting at a low speed and
going to medium-high as the two are
incorporated. Beat for about 30 sec-
onds, or until the mixture resembles
coarse sand.

Add the ice water, a tablespoon
at a time, beating in between each
addition. When the mixture turns into
chunks of dough, it is ready. You may
not need all of the ice water.

Form the dough into two balls. Roll
them in your palms to get rid of as
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many seams or cracks as possible.

Then, using your palms, fl atten the
balls into disks about 3-4 inches
in diameter. Refrigerate them for at
least 30 minutes before rolling.

Preheat your oven to 450
degrees F.

To roll dough: Place parchment
paper on the counter. Remove one
dough disk from the refrigerator, and
place it in the center of the parch-
ment paper. Sprinkle a little fl our on
the rolling pin.

Flatten the dough disk slightly with
the rolling pin. Then, rolling from the
center toward the edges, continue to
fl atten the dough.

Do not roll back and forth, as the
dough will tear. If it tears, you can fi x
it by pressing dough together with
your fi ngers around the tear.

Roll the dough into an amoe-
ba-shaped circle about ⅛-inch thick,
slightly larger than the pie pan. Place
a piece of aluminum foil over half
of the dough circle. Fold it in half,
parchment paper and all. Turn it
upside down, and place the semicir-
cle of dough along the pie pan’s mid-
line. Gently pull away the parchment
and foil and nudge the dough into
place. Fix any tears with your fi ngers.

With another piece of foil, cover
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