Scalia’s Second Blue Ribbon

Although she owns more than 200 cookbooks, when it comes to cooking pies, two-time Village Fair blue-ribbon pie contest winner Jan Scalia devises her own recipes. ”In October, Scalia won the Village Fair pecan pie contest. Since she placed first in the apple pie category the year before and third in 2001 in the same category, Scalia says she didn’t expect to win again. ”’I cried,’ says Scalia, whose three ribbons appropriately adorn her refrigerator. ‘I was so shocked.’ ”A Palisadian since 1987, Scalia lives in a guest house in the Marquez Knolls area, where she cooks her delectable pies in a table-top convection oven. ‘I’ve learned how to get everything ready in a small area. If I had a big kitchen, it wouldn’t be quite as hard, but at the same time, it wouldn’t be quite as much fun.’ ”When asked what separated Scalia’s pecan pie from the other entries, Arnie Wishnick, executive director of the Palisades Chamber of Commerce and 2004 pie judge, replied, ‘It’s the crust and [the filling’s] not too gooey.’ ”Soon after Scalia was awarded her second blue ribbon, she proclaimed her Village Fair pie contest days were over. ‘Why would you want to quit after winning first place?’ a friend asked. Scalia replied: ‘Here in the Palisades, it’s like a community. It’s not the Pillsbury bake-off. I feel like I have my blue ribbon and now it’s someone else’s chance to win.’ ”Scalia uses a bourbon cream sauce atop her southern pecan pie, so it’s not ‘just your everyday, run-of-the-mill pecan pie.’ She also toasts the pecans ‘to bring out their flavor.’ ”For her apple pie, Scalia uses Granny Smith apples exclusively because they retain their shape and have a varying combination of tartness and sweetness. ‘I will often sample an apple to see how it tastes and if it’s too tart, then I’ll add a little more sugar. I’m constantly monitoring ingredients and making modifications.’ ”Scalia says a pie’s crust is the most important element ‘because it kind of cuts and complements the taste of the pie’s fruit.’ She uses the same crust recipe for each type of pie she makes. Her crust-making secrets include using Dasani water and putting ice cubes in all liquid ingredients. ”Born in Rome, Italy, and raised in Monroe, Louisiana, the adopted Scalia grew fond of the Palisades after visiting her aunt and uncle’s home when she was 16. After earning a B.S. in nursing (with a clinical specialty in maternal child medicine) from Northeast Louisiana University, she returned to Los Angeles in 1980 to work at St. John’s Hospital, until health complications forced her to bow out. ”’Cooking is a lot like nursing,’ Scalia says. ‘You’re really giving a part of yourself to what you’re doing.’ ”Although Scalia believes that much of her cooking aptitude is innate, she also credits her culinary skills to her mother. ‘My mom held me off cooking until I was 12 years old,’ says Scalia, who has two younger brothers. ‘All she let me do was salads until I begged her to let me use fire.’ ”In addition to being a talented cook, Scalia is also a gifted singer. In 2001, she was selected to sing the national anthem at the Fourth of July fireworks show after Palisades Americanism Parade Association (PAPA) judges deemed her a cappella rendition the best out of other recordings submitted. ”Although pies are her specialty, Scalia, who enjoys watching the Food Channel, can cook ‘anything Italian’ and hopes to master Asian cuisine next. She’s also entertaining the possibility of opening a small catering service. ”Contact: 454-7581.