Grab a slice while celebrating Pi Day in Waterloo region: Jasmine Mangalaseril

March 14 is Pi Day. Although galore math-leaning sorts volition observe the effect of dividing a circle's circumference by its radius, it's a time everyone tin people with pie.

The date, archetypal celebrated successful the United States successful 1988, lined up perfectly with the mathematical constant: 3.141592653…

In Waterloo, erstwhile Henry and Dianne de Jong opened Sweet and Savoury Pie Company, they didn't recognize however important Pi Day was successful the Region.

"Of course, with 2 large universities, colleges, the Perimeter Institute, you've got a batch of mathematics and science-oriented and -focused careers and studies and that benignant of thing," said Dianne de Jong.

They held their archetypal Pi Day successful 2015.

"People were getting pies. We were lined up retired the doorway truthful they could beryllium location astatine 9:26 and beryllium eating that pastry astatine 9:26 and 53 seconds, due to the fact that that's the number," added Henry de Jong.

There is nary authoritative flavour oregon benignant of pastry to observe the mathematical constant, arsenic Henry de Jong explained. 

"People conscionable privation pastry connected Pi Day. Some radical look astatine it and go, 'I'll person a quiche for breakfast. I'm going to person a nutrient pastry for lunch. I'll person thing for dinner, but I'm going to person pastry for dessert.'  Or they'll bash pie, pie, pie."

A satellite of pies

A representation cleanable latticed cherry pastry oregon aureate domed chickenhearted cookware pastry whitethorn instantly leap to mind, but fixed pastry is simply a nutrient with a crust, the satellite of pastry is arsenic varied arsenic its fillings.

Along with manaeesh (a flatbread akin to sfiha, sometimes topped with za'atar), Damask besides prepares different oven-baked fatayer (savoury handheld pies). Their boat-shaped pies are filled with food oregon mhammara (or muhammara), a crushed substance made of nuts, reddish doorbell peppers, pomegranate molasses and breadcrumbs. And their pyramid-like pies are stuffed with spinach.

While Damask's spinach fatayer diagnostic crimped seams, Melina's spinach and cheese-bundled spanakopita are a Mediterranean relative.

"Spanakopita is really spinach pastry successful Greek," said Nathalia Zuniga, who owns Melina's successful Kitchener with her hubby Mel Ioannou. "Spanakopita is layers of filo stuffed with spinach and feta cheese…it's precise accepted successful Greece and successful Cyprus. [It's] served each the time."

At Melina's, spanakopita is made into baked filo-wrapped triangle of varying sizes, from cocktail-sized to larger handhelds for a hearty snack oregon airy lunch. They'll besides beryllium made into cushions and served with sides for a meal.

The Greek-Latino fusion takeaway besides makes respective Central American and South American saccharine and savoury pies. Their staff, from Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, hole pastelitos and empanadas arsenic they would astatine home.

Most are half-moon shaped (but Chilean ones look much similar a rectangular pocket), utilizing either maize repast oregon wheat flour for the envelope that holds their fillings. Some are heavy fried portion others are baked.

Their saccharine pies tin beryllium filled with tropical fruit, dulce de leche oregon coconut, portion their savoury offerings are filled with immoderate operation of beef, chicken, potatoes, ham.

"The Colombians person mashed potatoes mixed with the beef oregon chicken, and a small spot of cumin makes them basal out. The Venezuelan is similar, but the quality is that they are not stuffed with potatoes," said Zuniga. "When it comes to taste...they're some delicious, but wholly antithetic taste, adjacent though they look precise similar."