Just the mention of pie classics such as apple pie, chicken pot pie, and even quiche, sets our taste buds into overdrive, but did you know that the first pies were often made from pastry that was intentionally barely edible, and had whole birds as fillings? Because the first pies of the Middle East and other classical civilizations were made from olive oil, the crust didn’t have the familiar flakiness and heft of the classic pie crusts that we know today. During Roman times (5th C. BC – 6th C. AD), and later in the Middle Ages in Europe, pastry was used as a method of keeping meats and other savory fillings moist during cooking, and also as a way in which to partially hermetically seal the filling in order to keep it from spoiling. The pastry, made from flour, suet (beef fat), eggs, and other ingredients, was dense and hard. Thus, only the filling would be eaten at the dining room table and the pastry topping would be left for the kitchen staff.