Spy Pie (Apple Pie)

An antique apple known as "Spy" or "Northern Spy" had been a favorite for American pie making for generations. It was supplanted by less tart fruit for a while but its virtues are now rediscovered and I think it is high time. The secret to a great apple pie is to add enough sugar to it so that you get a lovely caramelized liquid surrounding tart fruit which gives you the sweet and sour tang on your tongue. Done right, there should be nutmeg and true cinnamon in proper proportion and it all must combine in delightful harmony and be surrounded by a crust that has toasted to perfection and brought out all of the true flavor of butter and the flour used to make it. A great apple pie must be beyond words, it must be like St. Theresa in Ecstasy. Spy Pie is it. Pippin Pie's more sophisticated sister, deeper, more apple-like, so good. Π