A pie in the hand ... is worth eating

One of the best things about Angela Boggiano’s new book, “Pie” (Octopus Books, 2009), is that it has an entire chapter on “hand pies” — savory little pies that fit in the hand and make perfect picnic food, lunchbox treats, appetizers and the like. One of the other best things about “Pie” is that Boggiano is from England, and it is hard to think of an area of the world with a stronger pie tradition than the United Kingdom. Beef-filled Cornish Pasties, fish-filled Stargazy Pies, apples-and-bacon-stuffed Shropshire Fidget Pies, Grimsby Town Soccer Pies made with curried chicken, Scotch Pies with lamb and onion, Pork Pies and “Corner Shop Pies,” redolent of Stilton, beef and wine — these all make appearances in the book, along with Spanish, Russian, Indian and Italian iterations of pie. Boggiano includes a number of sweet pies, too: lemon-curd-and-jam pie, treacle pie, mince pie and raspberry-cream pie — all with the faint whiff of what the British call “nursery food” about them.