The story
Key lime pie is the pie of Key West and the Florida Keys, named for the tart, yellow-juiced limes that grow there. Local legend credits Aunt Sally, cook to the Key West millionaire William Curry, in the late 1800s, but that story has not been traced earlier than 1995. The pastry chef Stella Parks argues the pie grew instead from Borden's 1931 Magic Lemon Cream Pie, made with condensed milk, which cooks in the Keys adapted with local limes. A lime chiffon pie appeared in a Miami newspaper in 1933, and a recipe called Key lime pie was printed in 1940. Florida later adopted it as its signature dessert.
Rival claims
The 'Aunt Sally' story is unproven; food historian Stella Parks traces the pie to Borden's 1931 'Magic Lemon Cream Pie', adapted locally with Key limes.
Also known as Florida Key lime pie, key lime tart.
On the Meridish menu
Key lime pie was the dessert course on menu No. 16 on October 16, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
Tart lime custard set with condensed milk in a crumb crust. Local legend credits a cook in a millionaire's mansion on this island at the very end of the road.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_lime_pie
- tastingtable.com/901317/why-the-origin-of-key-lime-pie-is-so-contentious
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
