Welcome to our series sharing Food Holidays: May 8th, 2022. Did you know today is not only Mother’s Day but National Coconut Cream Pie Day which is not only David’s favorite desert but my mom’s. If she was here, we could celebrate Suzzane’s Birthday which falls on Mother’s Day with both Peach Cobbler and Coconut Cream Pie. But before you ask no, Charlie and I do not care for either of these desserts I think we will have Brownies or a Chocolate Cake. Would you like to join us for dessert?
National Coconut Cream Pie Day
National Coconut Cream Pie Day falls on May 8th every year. The Holiday is devoted to the ultimate Custard-and-Cream Pie concoction. On this holiday, we contemplate the taste of the Coconut Cream Pie. Then most people help themselves to a slice of the Pie. This is the beginning of warmer weather and longer days filled with lazy hours that are perfectly punctuated by a piece of Coconut Cream Pie. The basic ingredients for Coconut Cream Pie are a Custard prepared from Coconut Milk, Sugar, Egg Yolks, Cornstarch, and Butter, topped with a pile of fluffy Whipped Cream and Toasted Coconut Shavings. But Coconut Cream Pie always ends up as more than the sum of its parts. Coconut Cream Pie is well-nigh magical, and that’s why Coconut Cream Pie gets its own holiday.
HISTORY OF NATIONAL COCONUT CREAM PIE DAY
Even in-depth research doesn’t reveal the exact date of the first recognition of National Coconut Cream Pie Day, but the Pie itself has been around a long while. Back in the 19th Century, with advances in importing and exporting perishable goods, Americans and Europeans fell in love with Tropical Fruits like Bananas and Pineapples. Coconuts were ‘on the radar,’ but they were prone to go bad on long overland voyages and tended to be objects of confusion once in a person’s kitchen, for lack of recipe ideas.
The shipping problem was solved by a French Export Company in what is now modern-day Sri Lanka when their experts began to shred and dry Coconut Meat. This made the food much more accessible to American- and European chefs and cooks. Coconut’s popularity increased worldwide.
Its status as a ‘regular’ Pie ingredient was cemented in 1895 when a Philadelphia Miller received a shipment of Coconuts as repayment for a debt from a client in Cuba. The Miller set up a factory process for drying the Coconut Meat, began to distribute it, and became the catalyst for Coconut based recipes being printed in Cookbooks and becoming universally popular. No one is sure who made the first Coconut Cream Pie but by the early 20th Century, you could find them anywhere.
NATIONAL COCONUT CREAM PIE DAY ACTIVITIES
- Have a slice or two of the Coconut Cream Pie is a no-brainer for every food-related holiday. The Pies vary in the level of difficulty of laying your hands or fork on the Pie in question. But we’ll tell you unequivocally, Coconut Cream Pie is among the worthiest of going out of your way to get.
- Especially if you’re timing the Pie to be ready at a certain hour, the Pie requires quite a delicate balance in preparation, considering that the Crust, Custard, and the Cream are all prepared separately, cooled, and then combined. But, once again, Coconut Cream Pie is a labor of love, and if all goes well is one of the best desserts we know.
- Follow the hashtag #CoconutCreamPieDay to find recipes, the histories of Coconut Cream Pie, and conversations about this treat. You could even do a Zoom Dessert party, with each participant nibbling on the camera and chewing around a happy smile.
FIVE FACTS ABOUT COCONUTS:
- Nutrient-rich Coconut Meat contains a concentration of Cytokinins, a group of hormones that boosts plant development and helps plants fight pathogens.
- Even sneakier than Tomatoes the Coconut is not technically a nut, nor even a fruit, The Coconut is a seed!
- During shortages of Plasma, Coconut Water has traditionally been used in its place in IV Transfusions.
- Portuguese Sailors originally attached the word “Coco” to the seed, believing that the three indentations on its shell made it resemble the face of a mythical goblin of that name.
- Did you know falling Coconuts kill about 150 people worldwide each year. Twice the number of deaths by Shark Attacks.
WHY PEOPLE LOVE NATIONAL COCONUT CREAM PIE DAY
- sk anyone who’s ever tried to make a Souffle any baking endeavor requires the ability to multitask, creating a perfect sense of timing, and a Chef’s preternatural ability to ‘know’ when their recipe is ready to perfection. As you snack on your Coconut Cream Pie, give a nod to the person who baked the Pie.
- If you haven’t ever had the chance to visit a Tropical Beach with Palm Trees swaying in the Ocean Breeze, fantasizing about the Tropical Islands while enjoying a Coconut Cream Pie is the next best thing. Here’s an interesting fact: All Coconut Trees are Palm Trees, but not all Palm Trees are Coconut Trees.
- We’ve found that a given individual either has a sweet tooth or not and there are those that would rather have seconds of the dinner dish than indulge in dessert. But for those of us that love sweetness, Coconut Cream Pie has no equal.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
