Summer Citrus Series: Key Lime Pie History

There are mainly two types of limes available in the United States, Key limes and Persian limes. Key limes are native to Southeast Asia. It’s believed that the Spanish brought them to Florida, via Haiti, in the 1500’s. The origins of the Persian lime are unknown. They were first grown in Persia, what we know today as southern Iran and Iraq, which accounts for their name. Many think that the Portuguese brought the Persian lime to Brazil. From Brazil it would travel to Australia, Tahiti and finally California in the late 1800’s. The Persian lime is most likely a hybrid of the key lime and the lemon or citron (a large lumpy yellow green citrus fruit with a thick rind). Key limes differ from Persian limes in four major ways. Key limes are small pale greenish yellow fruits, have a thin rind, many seeds and a strong bitter flavor which is caused by high acidity levels. Persian limes are generally green (because they are not ripe), similar to lemons in size have a thicker rind, very few seeds if any and lower acidity levels which makes them less tart.

There are two popular theories for the creation of Key Lime Pie. The first is that the cook, Aunt Sally, of William Curry, a ship salvager, created the pie as a variation of a lemon ice box pie in the late 19th century. The second is that sponge fisherman created the pie out of necessity. Since they were on the water for long periods of time and didn’t have access to reliable food storage they kept nutritional stable staple foods on hand like canned milk, key limes, soda crackers and eggs. It’s believed that the chemical reaction between the limes, milk and eggs “cooked” the mixture making it safe to eat. The true origins of the dessert may never be known. The first mention of the pie in writing is accredited to a Works Progress Administration promo in the 1930’s.

It is the general belief that the graham cracker was created by Sylvester Graham in the 19th century as part of a healthy diet to reduce the prevalence of sexual urges. However, there is debate about Reverend Graham being the mastermind behind the cracker because of the vast time span between his “creation” and the first printed appearance of the graham cracker in cookbooks. The graham cracker didn’t gain in popularity until 1898 when the National Biscuit Company, a.k.a. Nabisco, began to manufacture them. During this time the NBC was also responsible for manufacturing the soda cracker that was thought to have been originally used as/in the crust for key lime pie. Perhaps with the popularity of key lime pie, and as a byproduct the Uneeda biscuit or vice versa, people were more willing to try the graham cracker which ultimately resulted in the replacement of the soda cracker in key lime pie.

Although the beginnings of whipped cream are unknown, there is a lot of speculation about how it was first created and who made the discovery. There are even conflicting opinions as to who should be created with the invention of Crème Chantilly. Crème Chantilly is generally thought to be the modern interpretation of whipped cream. One truth is repeatedly presented through these contradictory accounts. Whipped cream consists of separated cream, either flavored with a wide range of aromatics and/or sweetened, that has been whipped to produce a foam.

The appearance of “ice cream” can be traced as far back as the 2nd century BC. The story of ice cream is loosely mirrored in the development of modern civilization. It started as snow flavored with honey and fruit enjoyed by Alexander the Great in Macedonia, next a frozen milk concoction favored in China by royalty of the Tang dynasty, followed by sorbet in the 16th and 17th centuries for the aristocracy in France and finally ice cream made with cream savored by the masses in England and North America during the 18th century. It has only grown in popularity as time has progressed. The design for the precursor to the machine readily used today to make ice cream was patented by Nancy M. Johnson on September 9, 1843.

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