By Kimberly Kaye
I am not much of a cake eater - never have been. Sure, the Pillsbury FunFetti cupcakes of my childhood were appreciated when they appeared, but I was generally more interested in eating the frosting off the top and throwing the rest away. I insisted on Snicker’s cheesecake instead of birthday cake as a child, and switched over to my father’s peanut-butter pie (which will, no doubt, also be the top tier of my wedding cake someday) at 16 without looking back. So it stands to reason I’m a pie person. Which is why the news that Grace Van Vorst Church in Jersey City was both hosting an old-school Pie Bake-Off/fund raiser, and asking me to fill in as a judge was nothing short of squeal inducing.
“Oh my God, this is a sin,” I said to Ramon, who was acting as both photographer and fellow pie enthusiast, as I savored a mouthful of the apple-crumb slice he purchased before judging even began.
“Doesn’t count – you’re in church,” he replied before disappearing again amidst the gathering throng, which ooh-ed and aah-ed over the plethora of perfect pastries on display in front of the judging tables. There was plenty to ogle; three large round tables presented dozens of pies, ranging from the basic (apple, pecan, pumpkin) to the more exotic (green tomato, cherry-cranberry) and everything in between: apple-walnut-raisin, sweet chocolate-chunky-toffee-crunch, dense brown-sugar-chocolate-pecan, and smooth sweet-potato -- all 100% homemade. It was enough to make a dessert-junkie drop to her knees in prayer.
I must admit, I was a bit nervous about attending the First Annual Blue-Ribbon Pie Contest. I worried about my sinful, pseudo-hippie self (who has not been to church in over three years) in a roomful of good Christians and their wholesome baked goods – would I burst into flames as I stepped over the threshold? I didn’t, of course, and if the smiling faces that happily ushered me to the judging area weren’t welcoming enough, event organizer Garth Kobal greeted me in pseudo-hippie hat (this is my kind of congregation, people). He also had on a T-shirt that read “Pie … Universal Medicine.” Amen, brother. Amen.
The judging was broken down into four panels of three judges each (one restaurant owner, one food writer, and one chef), who were assigned to one of four pie categories: apple, pumpkin/sweet potato, other fruits, and pecan/other nut. I was assigned to the pecan and other nut category, along with Chef Barbara Konik of the Hudson County Culinary Arts institution, and Jelynne Jardiniano, owner of Jersey City’s LITM restaurant and bar. We were to judge based on overall appearance, quality of filling, and quality of crust. Pens in one hand and forks in the other, we took to the sweets.
Pies are tricky; ultimately, they are comfort food, and comfort food is different to everyone. While it’s easy to judge appearances (even browning on the surface, appealing placement of pecans), everyone has a different theory on what fillings and crusts should be like. For my tastes, things needed to be nutty, balanced in texture, and sweet without being too sweet. We all agreed that most chocolate-pecan hybrids (though delicious) were dominated by the chocolate, and didn’t offer enough pecan flavor to win a “nut pie” competition; some offerings were spot-on in fillings, others were paradigms of crust perfection.
In the end, Lissa Welles took our category’s top prize, with Wendy Eaton, Adam Rucinsky, and Amanda Stats following closely behind. Welles also took top honors in “Other Fruit” as well, for a lemon surprise pie that left judges tittering with approval. Her secret?
“I took a standard recipe, cut the sugar in half, and doubled the pecans,” she explains. “And the lemon pie has actual slices of lemon in it … that’s the surprise.”
Flanked on both sides by her children, she confesses that her baking skills have bred future pastry snobs. “I’ve ruined them for pie,” she says guiltily. I may be biased, but I think that’s a good thing.
Grace Van Vorst is tight knit community, an urban congregation which opens its arms to parishioners of all races, sexual orientations, and walks of life. Organizer Garth Kobal created the contest in response to Jersey City’s surprising “lack of pie,” and contributes its success to a widespread love of dessert and family.
“So many events in the city are targeted towards adults, not families,” he says. Looking around at the milling crowd of all ages, licking their fingers and sharing slices, he smiles. “But I certainly think the seed has been planted.”
The event itself was a success, raising over $600 for the church’s Outreach Programs, Breakfast Plus! and Grace Seniors for Happy Living (which provides physical and leisure activities, as well as financial advisement and companionship, for the elderly). The former, which serves breakfast to the needy on weekends, is dependent on volunteers to continue feeding the hungry -- to offer your time and services, you can e-mail volunteer@gracevanvorst.org.
For a complete list of winners, visit www.gracevanvorst.org.
when i first heard about this, i thought, "they make pies in jersey city?"....apparently they do, and very well...my mouth is watering! great idea garth- hope i'm in the neighborhood for the second annual event next year..(invite my daughter again and we'll make it a day and bring our pie loving gang!).
Posted by: susan kaye | 11/18/2006 at 06:52 PM
Wow. Nice. I'm the son of the man who made those shirts; his name is Peter Moffitt, and he is the main musician of Grace Van Vorst. As for the shirt's origin, my friends and I at camp made up the idea, and I produced the first 'Pie... Universal Medicine' shirt. Later on, we made a new shirt with plastic stencils. I have a shirt here: http://bibinson.sitesled.com/cpp/pieshirt.jpg
If you'd like to order one, send an email to pzmoff@aol.com or bibinson@gmail.com, and we can print you one and send it for a low price.
Posted by: Mike "Bibin" M. | 11/24/2006 at 12:32 AM
What a great time we all had. If anyone wants my prize winning pie recipie, email me.
Posted by: Courtney Maier | 11/28/2006 at 01:01 PM