Nutty Even Then

There are those who say Southern California has no food history. The fools. It certainly does, as we intend to show. With this issue, we begin an occasional feature of Southland recipes from 60 or 120 years ago. You may be surprised to find what our forebears were cooking.

This walnut pie recipe, a third-prize winner for Mrs. C.C. Hall of Hollywood in a 1908 Times recipe contest, is not an English recipe but one for English walnuts, as against the native American black walnuts. English walnuts had been a major local crop since the 1870s.

Newcomers to Los Angeles (and most residents were newcomers in 1908) experimented enthusiastically with exotic local ingredients such as walnuts--and citrus fruits. In fact, a better name for this pie would be orange-walnut pie. It comes from “The Los Angeles Times Cookbook #3,” which is long out of print.

ENGLISH WALNUT PIE

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Juice and grated zest of 1 orange

Pastry for 1-crust pie

1/2 cup minced walnuts

2 egg whites

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Cream yolks and sugar in small saucepan by beating until mixture is smooth and pale yellow in color. Add lemon juice, orange juice and zest and walnuts. Cook until mixture thickens.

Line pie pan with crust and fill with walnut mixture. Bake at 375 degrees 30 minutes.

Beat egg whites with sugar until stiff and spoon over filling. Return to oven until meringue browns, about 8 minutes.

8 to 10 servings. Each of 10 servings:

257 calories; 72 mg sodium; 54 mg cholesterol; 15 grams fat; 28 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams protein; 0.33 gram fiber.