Key West is known for picturesque sunsets, roaming roosters and, of course, Key Lime Pie. But is Key Lime Pie really from Key West?
New York City website Gothamist reports that there is an ongoing controversy surrounding the origins of the beloved lime tart. It all started when Stella Parks published her cookbook, BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts,which included diving into the pie’s history. While researching her book, Parks consulted with Key West historian Tom Hambright, who couldn’t find a local recipe for Key lime pie earlier than 1949.
Parks, though, found a nearly-identical recipe that dates back to 1931. While the recipe she found uses lemons instead of limes, it’s the same idea of a sweetened condensed milk citrus pie. However, the dessert wasn’t created in the Sunshine State, but by the Borden condensed milk company in New York City. Thanks to a wave of advertising by the condensed milk company, the recipe for Magic Lemon Cream Pie most likely made its way to Florida sometime in the 1930s and ‘40s. There canny pie makers modified the recipe, swapping lemons for Key West’s sweet-tart limes.
There’s an old story floating around Key West that Key lime pie was invented back in the 1890s—way before the Borden company’s recipe—by a woman known only as “Aunt Sally”. She allegedly concocted the pie in the kitchens of Key West’s Curry Mansion, where she had access to sweetened condensed milk. However, according to a story published by the Miami Herald, that story has never been verified.
While Parks’ cookbook won a prestigious James Beard Award, it also won the ire of some Key lime enthusiasts, most notably David Sloan, the author of the 2013 book The Key West Key Lime Pie Cookbook, and the man behind Key West’s annual Key Lime Festival. Sloan wasn’t willing to accept Parks’ Key lime pie origin story.
Unwilling to go down without a fight for his beloved pie, Sloan told the Key West Citizen that he has historical documents that show that Aunt Sally is very real and that she definitely had access to condensed milk earlier than the 1930s. He also believes that Borden may have gotten the recipe for Magic Lemon Cream Pie through a recipe contest they held in 1931 simply swapping lemons for hard-to-find Key limes. Sloan also took to Facebook looking for help in supporting his thesis.
But Stella Parks hasn’t seen the proof she needs yet. “I think it’s important to say that there could be, in some box some grandma has stored away her copy of this recipe from way earlier and it hasn’t been discovered yet,” said Parks. “So, this is all under the caveat of that this is all I have been able to find.” And for the record, Parks says, “I am not a New Yorker. I am a Southern girl!” she laughed.
But why quibble about origins? Key Lime Pie is delicious, regardless of where it comes from. Just celebrate by eating some, today!
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Photo Credit: Rimma Bondarenko / Shutterstock.com
