I had a nice Thanksgiving yesterday. A few days ago a friend wanted to go to Costco to get some quality cheeses, but being that it was Costco, she could only get a lot. Her giving me some of the cheese, pushed me to go up to the deli i photographed before, to get some sliced turkey meat. I ended up getting two kinds of turkey and that coupled with my four kinds of cheeses, made for a nice Thanksgiving day meal.
But it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without pie. Or at least this is what I told myself so I'd have an excuse to buy some pie. Pie unfortunately is a mystery in Taiwan, they have no idea what pie is. Not many things are certain in Taiwan, except that if you go to a restaurant and see "apple pie" on the menu you can guarantee that it's not going to be even close to apple pie. But of course you can't say anything cause the normal response by others is "of course apple it's pie, it's apple and some bread stuff." I guess by that logic a piece of a bread and a slice of cheese is "pizza."
Thankfully we have Mom's Pies. This is a pie place that has been around since 1998 (according to their logo) however they have not been very well known. This is mainly because they don't have any restaurant or store front. They have van that drives around the city and stops in different parts for about an hour or so to sell the pies.
By Taiwan's standards this could be a bit strange. There are tons of stands which sell things on the street, but usually in the same place everyday. Also there are people who go around their neighborhood in small vendor like carts, but nothing to this large extent that goes all over the city.
Over the years they have gotten more and more popular. Basically their popularity is only by word of mouth and who has a bigger mouth than me? They have moved from one to two to now four vans that go around the city. A few years back they also opened up a store in front of the place where they cook all their pies.
Their pies are definitely pies, and while not the best pies in the world, they are by far the best you can get in Taiwan. They have a few "Taiwanese" flavors like "green tea" and some ones I don't even know what the English would be. But surprisingly they also have some western flavors which are unappealing to Taiwanese, such as the pumpkin you see on the left. The idea of a pumpkin pie makes most Taiwanese run in fear, however those that have been brave enough to try it have liked it.
Their best sellers though, are not even pies at all, but cheesecakes with different fruit toppings. But I am happy that they keep the real pies still on the menu. Most places would take them off and just sell the cheesecakes. Mom truly does it for the love.
In the past few years some pie specific stores have opened up. Many to starting success, only to quickly close or to change to selling different baked goods. Mom's Pies is still going strong and still the only place for a real piece of pie. Thanks Mom!
