 The first reference to "pyes" as food items appeared in England (in a Latin context) as early as the 12th century), but it is not clear that this referred to baked pies.In the Medieval era, pies were usually savory meat pies made with "...beef, lamb, wild duck, magpie pigeon -- spiced with pepper, currants or dates".Medieval cooks had restricted access to ovens due to their costs of construction and need for abundant supplies of fuel.