Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
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HUNGRY ROAD — What’s not to love about getting in the car and driving down to the diner or local family restaurant for a delicious meal?
Diner and/or mom and pop restaurant food may not have the greatest reputation, at times, but hey, it can hit the spot when hunger strikes.
Our great state has its share of mom and pop restaurants, each seemingly having a specialty item on its menu. One Utah restaurant has a dessert that might take the cake — or pie — when it comes to, well, being different.
What is this treat? How about a nice slice of pickle pie?
At the Sunglow Cafe in Bicknell, you’ll find baker Bessie Stewart making pickle pies every day. In this video from Great Big Story, Stewart gives the details on this very different dessert.
So what’s the origin of this pie?
“The original owner found the recipe in a magazine,” Stewart said. “She didn’t like the recipe at all, so she changed it around. And now the pickle pie is the very best.”
As far as Stewart knows, the Sunglow Cafe is the only place that makes pickle pie.
Some of the ingredients in the pie are your typical ingredients of any other pie: sugar, milk, eggs and butter. But yeah, adding in diced pickles into the mix is something not very typical, to say the least.
After all the ingredients are mixed together, Stewart puts it into an unbaked pie shell and bakes it. Add a dab of whipped cream and you have this different yet intriguing treat.
“Wow! Pickle pie! This is delicious,” Stewart said.
She added that pickle pie’s biggest selling point is the curiosity factor.
So what do the customers have to say about pickle pice?
“Tastes very similar to a pumpkin pie,” said one customer in the video.
“It’s not, like, overpowering,” said another customer about the pickle flavor of the pie. “A little sweet.”
One customer put it plain and simple: “I think it’s going to sell.”
Bicknell is a small town about three hours south of Salt Lake City. While cities usually get the hype when it comes to new and good food, Stewart reminds people that finding (and in her case, making) good food isn't always a city thing.
“You don’t have to live in a great big city to have good food. You have to have pride and an imagination,” she said. “(Pickle pie) is more than just a pie, it’s your work of art. It’s something that you have done, and it looks pretty, and it tastes good, and you can be proud of it.”
You’re 100 percent correct, Bessie Stewart. Small towns can have just as big, or even bigger, flavors when it comes to food.
I don’t know about you, but I’m curious to try a slice of pickle pie. Admittedly, I don’t really like pickles. But as Stewart mentioned, that curiosity factor is making me wonder and making me want to drive down to Bicknell to grab a slice, just to taste the pie.
Road trip, anyone? See you there!
