what is chess pie

Chess pie is a dessert that is characteristic of Southern United States cuisine. It is a custard-style pie with a filling composed mainly of flour, butter, sugar, eggs, and sometimes milk. The basic recipe calls for the preparation of a single crust and a filling composed of flour, butter, sugar, and eggs and milk or condensed milk. Some variations call for the addition of cornmeal as a thickener, and many recipes call for an acid such as vinegar, buttermilk, or lemon juice to balance out the sweetness. The name "chess pie" has several proposed derivations, including a derivation of cheese pie, as early cookbooks grouped cheesecakes together with pies made of curd or custard. Other possible derivations include the town of Chester, England; chest pie, from pie chest, a type of furniture used to store pies prior to home refrigeration; or an eggcorn of "Its just pie" due to a misinterpretation of the pronunciation "Its jes pie" in Southern American English.