Is it pronounced pecan or pecan?

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The spotlight may be on sweet potato and pumpkin pies on Thanksgiving, but pecan pie takes center stage at an annual Fayetteville bake-off happening next week.

Now in its third year, The MacPherson House 3rd Annual Great Fayetteville Pecan Pie Bake Off is 4 to 6 p.m. Nov. 5 at 701 Hay St.

A small panel of judges, including myself, will determine the best traditional pie, best creative pie and the best overall. The grand prize is one night's stay at The MacPherson House Bed & Breakfast in the Lafayette Room, overlooking the pecan trees.

Contestants can enter the competition through tomorrow, Oct. 28., and guests can get tickets to taste the pies and vote which one should receive the people’s choice award.

I’m thrilled to help judge the competition — but I must admit — I don’t come from a pecan pie family. Truthfully, I don’t come from a pie family at all. Growing up, you wouldn't even find a pumpkin pie on our Thanksgiving table, just caramel cheesecake.

So, I have some work to do before the competition. As soon as I finish writing this, I’m headed to the market to pick up a pecan pie – that way, I have a sort of “baseline” familiarity with the flavors and texture.

But, I also wanted to dig into the history of the 220-year-old dessert. In brief, here is what I found:

Pecans are native to the Southern United States, and archaeologists found evidence in Texas that Native Americans ate pecans more than 8,000 years ago. The word pecan is derived from an Algonquin word, pakani, referring to a nut too hard to crack by hand.

According to Eater, the South’s signature dessert was first printed in Texas cookbooks in the 1870s, but the version that most closely resembles the pecan pie we know today was found in a 1898 St. Louis church charity cookbook. It was sent in by a Texas woman.

The pie was popularized nationwide in the mid-1920s, when Karo syrup began printing a recipe for pecan pie on the label: a cup of the corn syrup product, along with eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and of course, pecans, in a flaky pie crust.

Now, some recipes use alternatives for Karo syrup like brown sugar and molasses, and some add bourbon, rum, or whiskey into the mix. Chocolate and coconut are also popular add-ins.

Though many diners and restaurants in the South serve pecan pie all year long, pecans are harvested in late September through early November, which is how the pie came to be associated with Thanksgiving.

I’m sure I’ll learn more about the iconic pie at the bake-off. I’ll share what I find out here, and on TikTok. In the meantime, be sure to check out my latest work. A lot is happening in the Fayetteville food scene, and there are tons of exciting things to come.

Let me know — do you eat pecan pie on Thanksgiving? What are the best places to get it around Fayetteville? Email me at tshook@gannett.com. I can’t wait to hear from you.

Happy Eating,

Taylor

Taylor Shook covers food, dining and business for The Fayetteville Observer. Click here for her most recent articles or reach her at tshook@gannett.com. 

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Taylor Shook to judge 3rd Annual Great Fayetteville Pecan Pie Bake Off