Editing Pie (section)

===Antiquity===
Early pies were in the form of flat, round or freeform crusty cakes called [[galette]]s consisting of a crust of ground [[oats]], [[wheat]], [[rye]], or [[barley]] containing [[honey]] inside. These galettes developed into a form of early sweet [[pastry]] or [[desserts]], evidence of which can be found on the tomb walls of the [[Pharaoh]] [[Ramesses II]], who ruled from 1304 to 1237 BC, located in the [[Valley of the Kings]].<ref name="WCA" /> Sometime before 2000 BC, a recipe for [[chicken pie]] was written on a tablet in [[Sumer]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6cBSI6TioRQC&dq=Sumerian+recipes&pg=PA69 Somervill, ''Empires of Ancient Mesopotamia'', p.69]</ref>

In the plays of [[Aristophanes]] (5th century BC), there are mentions of [[Sweetmeat|sweetmeats]] including small pastries filled with fruit. Nothing is known of the actual pastry used.

[[File:Roberto Bompiani - A Roman Feast - 72.PA.4 - J. Paul Getty Museum.jpg|thumb|A 19th-century depiction of a Roman feast, where pastry-covered meat dishes were served]]

The Romans made a plain pastry of flour, oil, and water to cover meats and fowls which were baked, thus keeping in the juices. The Roman approach of covering "...birds or hams with dough" has been called more of an attempt to prevent the meat from drying out during baking than an actual pie in the modern sense.<ref name="Perry" /> The covering was not meant to be eaten. It filled the role of what was later called puff paste. A richer pastry, intended to be eaten, was used to make small pasties containing eggs or little birds which were among the minor items served at banquets.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodpies.html|title=Food Pies|publisher=FoodTimeline.org|access-date=5 July 2010}}</ref> The first written reference to a Roman pie is for a rye dough that was filled with a mixture of goat's cheese and honey.<ref name="Pix" />

The 1st-century Roman cookbook ''[[Apicius]]'' makes various mentions of recipes which involve a pie case.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Apicius: Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome|editor=Joseph Dommers Vehling|publisher=Dover:New York|year=1977}}</ref> By 160 BC, Roman statesman [[Cato the Elder|Marcus Porcius Cato]] (234–149 BC), who wrote ''[[De Agri Cultura]]'', notes the recipe for the most popular pie/cake called ''[[Placenta (food)|placenta]]''. Also called ''libum'' by the Romans, it was more like a modern-day [[cheesecake]] on a pastry base, often used as an offering to the gods. With the development of the Roman Empire and its efficient road transport, pie cooking spread throughout [[Europe]].<ref name="WCA" /> Wealthy Romans combined many types of meats in their pies, including mussels and other seafood.<ref name="Mayer" /> Roman pie makers generally used vegetable oils, such as olive oil, to make their dough.<ref name="Pix" />