Photo in top-left corner by B. Bogenschutz
For the past three years, I have been holding a pie contest called Pietopia, where the entrants are asked: What does your life taste like, in a pie? People submit a 300 word essay and their recipe for a chance to win. This year’s contest will be held on August 5th at the Buckman Portland Farmers Market. If you are interested in entering, you can read more on the Pietopia page here at Eating Is Art. I’ll be regularly updating it as I find out more about sponsors, judges, and of course, prizes!
I’m really excited that there has already been some really exciting publicity concerning Pietopia this year! Last month, I was interviewed by Jennifer Anderson at the Portland Tribune for an article titled And let them eat PIE: Portlanders seek to change the world one slice at a time. This is a great overview of what is happening in the world of pie here in Portland, Oregon. And apparently, there’s a lot.
Gina Hyams, of the forthcoming book Pie Contest in a Box, also recently interviewed me about Pietopia. Below are a few questions from the interview and you can read it in its entirety here.
What are the origins of Pietopia? The idea of Pietopia manifested from my deep love and interest in community, connection, communication, design, and the senses. Everybody eats, so I started thinking about how this could be translated. Food and eating are our common denominator and a way for people to communicate and connect through, so I began searching out new ways to apply design-thinking and problem solving to my life passions and Pietopia became the brainchild. I chose to use pies because of their timeless appeal to the seasons, cross generations, and the local culture. I am also interested in exploring the ancient correlation between taste and feeling. The goal of Pietopia is to incite communication, connection, and communing as the interweaving entities within the fabric of our daily lives; as well as how the senses of taste and smell and the feelings/memories they can evoke, spearhead this process, and open doors for understanding. Pietopia seeks to channel our connection with food as a way to communicate, ultimately discovering what a city’s quality of life truly is.
What is the structure of your pie contest? There are two panels of judges. The entries go through a first round of judging by food writers. Their top choices are relayed to the bakers’ panel, which determines whether the pie matches the flavors described in the baker’s story and life. I then hand off the winners to a group of artists who reinterpret their story into a visual silk-screened poster. The poster is an original piece of art and along with a few other wonderful goodies, are the prizes for the winners. The whole process starts in mid-May and culminates at the Pietopia tasting, traditionally held at a farmers market in August.
What criteria do you consider in evaluating pie (and conceptual art literary pie)? There are actually two different sets of criteria entrants have to go through. The first is the written part: how well can you describe the taste of your life, in a pie? (For example, I am just waiting for a Ramen Noodle pie with a poignent description of that persons hardships, or a Ginger Bourbon Pecan pie describing the grandeur and complication in someone’s life.) The second criteria is the actual flavor. It’s up to the baker judges discretion to really meditate on the flavors in this pie, read and re-read that entrants story, and taste it some more to see if the two actually correlate, or if there is a disconnect or missing link.
Is there a proper technique to tasting pie? In Pietopia’s case, yes. Food says a lot. In fact, everything we eat has it’s own story. We use food to communicate with each other every day (ex: birthday cakes, condolence casseroles, welcome cookies, I-Love-You chocolates, etc…). Pietopia is calling our food-as-communication tradition out. So as you taste these pies, you are aware of someone else’s life using taste (of the pie itself), smell (of the pie, of the people around you), sound (as you hear the winners story or talk to them directly), sight (of the visual art work, the pie, and the winner themselves), and touch (the texture of the pie, the warm breeze, brushing up against people as you try to get seconds…). And the more a person is engaged in something by using all of their senses, the more likely they are to be receptive and possibly even understand a differing perspective better.
What is your favorite kind of pie? Peach pie in August.
Portland, Oregon seems to be Pie Nirvana. Why is that? It must be the collective unconscious!
What are your plans for Pietopia? I’d like to do Pietopia in cities across the country, to get a country-wide perspective on what the quality of life tastes like in individual cities. It would be incredible!
Why does pie matter today? Pie has become a symbol of comfort and community. Those are two things people are desperately trying to get back to and find a balance in their own lives with. I don’t think pie ever didn’t matter, but in today’s busy and tech-heavy world, it’s come to represent our sense of nostalgia for bygone days.
Thank you so much Jennifer and Gina, for the wonderful article and interview! And I am really excited to see who will be entering this year, I hope it’s you!
(Image via Katy Elliot–also another nominee!)
I’m a little late in finding this out myself, but last month I was included in InStyle Magazine’s Best Of The Web! I remember seeing it in the grocery store isle checking out one day, looking at the cover, taking a deep breath and thinking “that would be cool to be part of, maybe someday…” and not even picking it up to flip through because I was in a hurry. So it was a surprise when Jacky, the editor at Chef’s Blade, an online food community I write for, wrote me a congratulatory email last night. I investigated a little deeper and found several other great blogs who had been on the list and found one who was mentioned on the same printed page of the magazine as my blog. When I saw who I was mentioned with, I was so honored and super pumped to be along side some of my favorite food bloggers, artists, and writers! Thank you InStyle for including my blog! And congratulations to everyone else who was included!
(Image via Bread and Courage–another great nominee as well!)
