Pecan Pie

History The French created the PECAN PIE (and pecan pralines) after they settled in New Orleans and were introduced to the pecan by Native Americans. Small villages of the Quinipissa and Tangipahoa peoples were located in the vicinity of present-day New Orleans when the site was first visited by a European explorer, the Frenchman Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, in 1682. Subsequently, in 1699 another French explorer, Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, sieur de Bienville, recognized the …

…ion pounds in an average year with four-fifths of the pecan harvest sold as shelled nuts. The nuts ripen from mid-September until December and are harvested after they fall to the ground. No nuts are produced until trees are five or six years old. Varieties recommended for commercial use are: Cheyenne, Sioux, Cape Fear, Caddo, Wichita, Choctaw, Pawnee, Maramac, Melroses, Desirable, Eliot, and Western. Farmers choose varieties depending on their location and desired crop size.