Key Lime Pie

Separate the eggs. You’ll be whipping the whites, so put them in a large
enough bowl. Combine the egg yolks, the condensed milk and the juice, and
stir until thoroughly combined. The acidity of the juice thickens the milk
and eggs into a custard.

Add a pinch of sugar to the egg whites, and beat them until stiff but not
dry.

Spoon the custard into the pie crust and even it out. Spoon the beaten egg
whites on top of the custard and even it out so it looks pretty.

Chill before serving. If you like, run the pie under a hot broiler for a
minute until the egg whites are slightly browned. (This is primarily for
appearance, it doesn’t affect the flavor much.)

NOTES:

* Traditional lime pie dessert from the Florida Keys — This very easy
custard pie originated in the Florida Keys in the 1800’s when fresh
ingredients other than the local limes were hard to come by. See the notes
for information on some of the ingredients. Yield: One 8-inch pie.

* Everybody in the Florida Keys seems to have a variant of this recipe. It
shows up on postcards, place mats, lime juice bottles and guide books. Some
people fold a little of the beaten egg white into the custard to make it
lighter. Some put sweetened whipped cream on top rather than egg white.
Some use two or four eggs.

* Traditionally, this pie is made from the juice of the Key lime, a small
yellow citrus fruit quite different from the larger and more familiar
Persian lime. Key limes are very sensitive to cold and in the U.S. have
never been grown above the very southern tip of Florida. Bad weather and
disease have killed off so many of them that the only remaining grove is a
private one on one of the Keys, so you cannot buy Key lime juice in the
U.S. any more. Key limes are still grown widely in South America and
probably elsewhere on other continents.

There is something called Key West lime juice sold in pint bottles which
everybody uses instead now, which seems to be regular lime juice slightly
concentrated. It’s widely available in Florida and occasionally elsewhere
in the U.S. It’s also available via mail order from Key West Aloe,
telephone +1 305 294 5592 or 800-327-5866. In a pinch, you can substitute
regular lime juice, though it doesn’t produce quite the bright yellow
custard that traditionalists like. You may have to use extra juice, because
Persian limes are less acidic than Key limes.

: Difficulty: easy.
: Time: 20 minutes preparation, 1-2 hours chilling.
: Precision: approximate measurement OK.

: John Levine
: Interactive Systems Corp, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
: johnl@ima.isc.com