Savoy PumpkinPumpkin pie the Savoy way.

The typical American Thanksgiving dinner, we have to confess, depends largely on products both frozen and canned. The turkey almost always comes out of the deep freeze; the peas (not exactly an autumn vegetable) arrive at the stove as an icy block. And cans, of course, yield the cranberry sauce that shakes out with a plop to display those reassuring little circles imprinted on both ends—and the pureed, precooked pumpkin, thick as jam, already spiced, that glops into the premade pie shell to be baked up for dessert. Sigh… But who are we to buck tradition? Parisian chef Guy Savoy, on the other hand, can get away with it. For him, the bird ranges free; the vegetables are fresh; the cranberries are forgotten; and the pumpkin pie is, well, an extraordinary, freshly made treat.

French Pumpkin Pie
MARTIN SCHREIBER
Culture

Savoy Pumpkin

Pumpkin pie the Savoy way.

The typical American Thanksgiving dinner, we have to confess, depends largely on products both frozen and canned. The turkey almost always comes out of the deep freeze; the peas (not exactly an autumn vegetable) arrive at the stove as an icy block. And cans, of course, yield the cranberry sauce that shakes out with a plop to display those reassuring little circles imprinted on both ends—and the pureed, precooked pumpkin, thick as jam, already spiced, that glops into the premade pie shell to be baked up for dessert. Sigh… But who are we to buck tradition? Parisian chef Guy Savoy, on the other hand, can get away with it. For him, the bird ranges free; the vegetables are fresh; the cranberries are forgotten; and the pumpkin pie is, well, an extraordinary, freshly made treat.

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