Palmetto Past & Present: Got Your Thanksgiving Chicken Pie Ready?

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by MARK POWELL

From Greenville to Goose Creek and everywhere in between, Palmetto State homes will soon be filled with the aroma of basted turkey wafting in from the kitchen this Thursday. The bird is an essential part of Thanksgiving festivities, as important as the pumpkin pie or the football or those giant balloons floating above New York’s streets.

Which is ironic, considering turkey was the one thing the Pilgrims didn’t chow down on during their original three-day celebration back in 1621. They had fish (including eel) and wild fowl such as geese and ducks – and their Native American visitors are believed to have brought venison.

But there was no turkey; it’s not native to that area.

As the colonies grew into states, the Thanksgiving tradition generally grew along with it. Except in Dixie.

The South initially had a complicated relationship with the day. For starters, it originated in the North. And not just any Northern state, either, but the most Yankee state of them all: Massachusetts.

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Things grew even more complicated when President Abraham Lincoln first proclaimed Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863 to unify the war-weary Union. Consequently, Southerners left in the ashes of Sherman’s path were less inclined to commemorate the day.

But an antebellum curiosity does extend a culinary connection to annual celebrations elsewhere in the nation…

As the country grew, different migratory patterns emerged. Folks from the New England States began settling what we now call the Upper Midwest – where the turkey we associate with the big meal entered the story. However, before the Civil War, the main dish happily devoured was also a staple at many pre-Civil War celebrations here in South Carolina: Chicken Pie.

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Let’s be very clear from the outset: We’re not talking about chicken pot pies, the kind you often find in the frozen food section at the grocery store. This was an entirely different dish – popular in the Piedmont and Midlands, with local variations found in the Lowcountry.

Basically, an entire young chicken was stewed until the meat was tender. The bones were often removed (though sometimes not), and the whole bird was placed in pastry inside a deep pie dish. 

Unlike today’s pot pies, though, there were no vegetables (such as peas, carrots, or potatoes) and certainly no creamy sauce. Instead, egg yolks and flour were poured into the broth produced by the stewing, thickening it into a rich gravy. Salt, pepper, and sometimes nutmeg or parsley were tossed in. Lowcountry chefs, with their usual flair, often added a dash of sherry or Madeira for extra zing. The crust was different from today, too; it was lard-based with a unique taste. The top frequently featured a double layer of crust to keep the savory juices trapped inside.

Instead of green bean casserole and mashed potatoes and gravy, this treat was often served with succulent sides such as collards and turnip greens.  

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Chicken Pie was especially reserved for important meals such as Christmas, birthdays, wedding receptions, and big Sunday dinners when visitors were hosted.

And yes, the few (very few) folks who observed Thanksgiving Day in the Reconstruction Era and its aftermath ate it, too – just as did many of their countrymen above the Mason-Dixon Line.

Old animosities began easing as the 20th Century got underway. It’s often forgotten now, but World War I played an important role in easing lingering sectional animosities into retirement. Plus, Southern soldiers who had served at Northern military bases, or who were introduced to the Thanksgiving feast tradition by their Yankee comrades in arms, found a plate heaped with chicken and all the trimmings to their liking. And they brought it with them when they returned home after Armistice Day. By the 1920s, Thanksgiving was becoming accepted in South Carolina and throughout the Deep South.

But the rise in roasted turkey’s popularity spelled Chicken Pie’s downfall. Though cooking a big bird is no small feat, then or now, it’s much easier and less time-consuming to prepare than the old-time favorite. Tradition at the dinner table gave way to expedience in the kitchen. And so, turkey won out.

Accordingly, many of us will gorge ourselves into a tryptophan-induced stupor on Thursday – as opposed to calling out to the kitchen to ask “when will the Chicken Pie be ready?”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.

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