Grape pie made with Concord grapes is a regional specialty of Western New York, the Finger Lakes region, Pennsylvania and other areas of the United States where the grape is grown as well as Ontario, Canada. Vineyards that grow the grape, which was developed in the U.S., stretch from Western New York across Pennsylvania and into Ohio and Michigan as well as Washington state.[1] Grape pie is a specialty and tradition of Naples, New York,[2][3] host of the Naples Grape Festival and home to Angela Cannon-Crothers, author of Grape Pie Season.[4]
The traditional recipe, using Concord grapes,[5] is said to taste like wine due to the inclusion of tannins.[6] Variants on the dessert use other grape types and various other ingredients.
The grape pie is part of the traditional cuisine of Germanimmigrants to the region. This tradition is represented at Old Economy, home of a group of communal German immigrants founded in 1824.[6] The pie-making is a "very long process" and includes "skinning the grape, cooking the pulp and separating out the seeds."[6]
^"Consider the grape pie, whose unique flavor inspires thousands to take the spectacular drive to Naples each autumn for a bite—and more. In fact, we'd bet more people these days think of grape pies than they do Widmer wines when contemplating Naples." In Naples. the grape will still reign supremeArchived 2009-12-27 at the Wayback Machine September 29, 2009 Daily Messenger
^The Great Grape Pie Escapade September 14, 1988 Washington Post