The Pie Loved By President Millard Fillmore Had A Truly Haunting Name

Resurrection pie sounds like something that crawled straight out of a B-horror flick, with a name that screams ghosts and graveyards rather than dining room table. But this ghoulish-sounding dish was actually far less creepy than its moniker suggests. It was nothing more than a simple meat casserole that just so happened to be President Millard Fillmore's favorite dish, even if it has long since vanished from the annals of American cookery.

Like the Fillmore family itself, resurrection pie originated in the North of England, where it started as a way to "resurrect" leftover food. Some texts specifically name beef and liver as key ingredients, including a 1936 Scottish recipe that wine merchant and food writer André Simon featured in his 1952 book "A Concise Encyclopedia of Gastronomy." The recipe calls for thinly sliced liver, steak, rabbit, and bacon, arranged in two layers separated by sliced onions and potatoes. Then, the meat and vegetables would be covered in cold water, topped with more onions and potatoes, and baked, creating what is essentially a casserole. That said, it's unknown whether this was the exact way Fillmore enjoyed his resurrection pie, or whether he would eat it with the pastry topper others say was used in the recipe.

Not much is known about the fate of resurrection pie, but its disappearance from American tables may have something to do with one main ingredient falling out of fashion around the turn of the century. At that time, liver became associated with lower-income households, a social stigma that lasted until calf liver became a sought-after meat during the Great Depression. Oddly, beef and pig liver remained cheap cuts before WWII food rations led to a rise in consumption, which then petered out after the war. And since then, its popularity has continued to trend downwards, taking old-school dishes like livers and onions with it.

If you take liver out of the equation, though, there are still dishes that share resurrection pie's thrifty nature as foods that originated as a way to use leftovers, like shepherd's pie and pot pie. Shepherd's pie is probably the closest approximation, as another casserole of meat, vegetables, and gravy with mashed potatoes. First referred to as cottage pie in 18th century British cookbooks, it's believed to have started as a way for impoverished Irish peasants to make sure nothing went to waste. And to this day, shepherd's pie remains a way to use up leftover ingredients, with versions featuring liver and lamb still common in England and some Commonwealth countries. So while Fillmore's favorite food may have vanished from our kitchens, its frugal spirit lives on through all those dishes that turn last night's dinner into today's meal.