As a young boy, Que Billah spent many days in the kitchen of his Aunt Anne where he learned about his heritage and the meaningful part food plays in history.

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From Aunt Anne he heard how the African American community lost most of it's heritage when it arrived in this country so many of the traditions known today originated in what is known as the Deep South.  The tradition that is most appreciated, celebrated, and shared with others is soul, or comfort food.  

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During their countless hours together, Aunt Anne taught Que secret recipes, told priceless stories, and even allowed him to enjoy entire pies all to himself in a single visit to her house.

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Each year Aunt Anne would bring two sweet potato pies to Thanksgiving - one for the family and one just for Que.

The sweet potato pie easily became the entire families favorite holiday dessert. 

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After many fruitful years together Aunt Anne made her way home, leaving the sweet potato pie tradition to Que.  Unfortunately, he noticed that as his family became older and grew larger, the annual Thanksgiving feast broke into smaller celebrations, fewer attendees, and sadly, no pies. 

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Fearing that this tradition may be lost forever, Que contacted his Great Aunt Anne’s daughter on Facebook in hopes of obtaining the original pie recipe.  She assured him that she had the recipe and was happy to know that some one from his generation was interested in carrying on this tradition that dates back to a plantation in West Point, Mississippi.

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With recipe gold at his fingertips, Que spent a few years making pies for himself, literally, whole pies for himself, and working towards a sweet potato pie copy that they both he and Aunt Anne could be proud of. 

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In 2011 Que began the Purple Pie Factory as a seasonal pastry company who's speciality is sweet potato pie variations.

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Today, pies are made using white and purple sweet potatoes from Japan and the same great Aunt Anne recipe.

 

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