We had a row of concord grapes growing in our backyard when I was little. You may remember me talking about them before as I waxed on and on about my sour cherry tree. Every fall my mom made homemade grape juice, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I had a grape pie.
The first Concord grapes were grown in, you guessed it, Concord, Massachusetts in 1849. They were developed by Ephraim Wales Bull (great name) on his farm in Concord just down the road from Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne and Alcott. Ephraim experimented with 22,000 seedlings before going public with his ideal grape at the Boston Horticultural Society Exhibition in 1853, where he won first prize. From this Mr. Bull built his fame as the “father of the Concord grape.” Concords spread world-wide but Mr. Bull died a poor man. The inscription on his tombstone in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery reads: ”He sowed–others reaped.” The original parent vine of all Concord grapes still grows at Mr. Bull’s home today.
In 1869 Dr. Thomas Bramwell Welch, a dentist in Vineland, New Jersey, successfully preserved Concord grape juice with his application of Louis Pasteur’s theory of pasteurization. After boiling the grapes for several minutes, he (with the help of his wife and son) squeezed the juice through cloth bags, poured the juice into twelve quart bottles, stoppered the bottles with a cork and wax and boiled them in water preventing fermentation. The first orders for Welch’s Grape Juice came from his church for use in communion.
Concord jelly is the ideal jelly used in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (and the inspiration for this pie). Over 400,000 tons of Concord grapes are grown today, truly making the Concord “the grape for the millions,” according to Horace Greeley.
I’m in love with this pie. If you can get your hands on some fresh Concords, please make it for friends. They (and you) won’t be disappointed. It has a beautiful color, a pronounced grape flavor, isn’t too sweet, and pairs perfectly with the grape reduction, and peanut butter whipped cream.
Make sure you save any left over grape reduction to serve over vanilla ice cream, or mixed with sparkling water for a true grape soda.
We had a row of concord grapes growing in our backyard when I was little. You may remember me talking about them before as I waxed on and on about my sour cherry tree. Every fall my mom made homemade grape juice and jelly, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I had, or made, a grape pie.
The first Concord grapes were grown in, you guessed it, Concord, Massachusetts in 1849. They were developed by Ephraim Wales Bull (great name) on his farm in Concord just down the road from Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne and Alcott. Ephraim experimented with 22,000 seedlings before going public with his ideal grape at the Boston Horticultural Society Exhibition in 1853, where he won first prize. From this Mr. Bull built his fame as the “father of the Concord grape.” Concords spread world-wide but Mr. Bull died a poor man. The inscription on his tombstone in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery reads: ”He sowed–others reaped.” The original parent vine of all Concord grapes still grows at Mr. Bull’s home today.
In 1869 Dr. Thomas Bramwell Welch, a dentist in Vineland, New Jersey who had been active in the Underground Railroad, successfully preserved Concord grape juice with his application of Louis Pasteur’s theory of pasteurization. After boiling the grapes for several minutes, he (with the help of his wife and son) squeezed the juice through cloth bags, poured the juice into twelve quart bottles, stoppered the bottles with a cork and wax and boiled them in water preventing fermentation. The first orders for Welch’s Grape Juice came from his church for use in communion.
Concord jelly is the ideal jelly used in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (and the inspiration for this pie). Over 400,000 tons of Concord grapes are grown today, truly making the Concord “the grape for the millions,” according to Horace Greeley.
