Just Desserts: Dutch Apple Pie

The History

The Pitt Polder area of Pitt Meadows is a beautiful, picturesque landscape, but before it used to be a land that was “too wet even for the ducks” (Dr. Jan Blom) “Polder” is the Dutch word for reclaimed land. The polder is a piece of low land, reclaimed from a nearby river, surrounded by dikes with a controlled water table, controlled by pumps.

There were attempts to reclaim the land in the Pitt Polder area for many years. The first dike according to Dr. Jan Blom was in 1911 and was completed by Chinese Workers who completed the dike in 1914. In the late 1940’s, early 1950’s people from the Netherlands started to arrive in the area with the intention of making a go at reclaiming the land in the Pitt Polder area. This included Dr. Jan Blom who came over in 1947, who is credited with initiating the construction of the Pitt Polder. Dr. Blom got the option on the Pitt Polder land in 1949 and purchased it in 1950.

The cost in diking required a Dutch company called Pitt Polder Ltd. to buy land and establish dikes. It was initially a foreign investment until, the cost became so great that “in 1954, Canadian investors came in with the same amount of money” to meet the expense. Support for the dikes also came from Pitt Meadows residents who in 1956, pitched it to put sandbags on the dike.

Although the financial backing and support of Pitt Meadows residents was present, it was still challenging to overcome natural obstacles like wind. For example, in 1956, “there was a very fierce wind from the north. We didn’t have the new dike yet over Pitt Lake, and it came in through that funnel. The waves came up, and I think it was a fairly high tide too. That’s the year that we came to the conviction that we still should raise the size of the dike.” This experience guided the engineers on the new plans. The dikes we see today were built during 1957 and 1958.

Blom’s contribution is significant to Pitt Meadows because without his efforts the Pitt Polder area would be less accessible for farming, hunting, recreation, and golf courses. In 1989, a cairn was dedicated to him in his honour. In June 2001 New Neaves Road bridge was named Blom’s crossing. That year Jan Blom died on August 17.

The Cookbook

This recipe comes straight out of our Meadowland 35th anniversary Cookbook (1961 – 1996). This cookbook had recipes submitted, and they were compiled together into this book. It was common for schools at the time to create cookbooks like this.

Meadowland was opened in 1961. Former students at the school reported that they helped build the trees, pond and ring around it. Past students have informed us that while this school was being built, students were temporarily sent to Glenwood school to continue with their education. The school closed in 2002c. Eventually Greybrook Academy, a private school, would operate out of the site, but it too would close a few years later. Today the former school building is Canyon Springs Montessori academy.

The Recipe

We love this classic! I think most of us think of apple pie and have such positive memories associated with them, which makes you want a slice of pie. Although this recipe won’t replace our tried and true ones, we still love the nostalgia it brought us.

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Return to the kitchen.