Michael Donahue
Sour cream blueberry pie at Buon Cibo in Hernando.
All some friends had to say was “sour cream blueberry pie” and I had to have some. As fast as I could.
They told me Josh and Katie Belenchia were selling the pie at their restaurant,
Buon Cibo (CHEE-bo “Good Food”) in Hernando. I drove there the first chance I got.
It – and everything else I’ve ever eaten at Buon Cibo – was worth the drive. Everything about the pie – including the homemade crust – was delicious. Katie makes the pies, but the recipe came from Josh’s side of the family.
“All the pies we make here are my mother’s recipes,” Josh said. “Lemon chess, French coconut, and chocolate chess.”
The original sour cream pie recipe is a sour cream peach pie. “It’s awesome. We only have sour cream peach when peaches are in season.”
The blueberries are what Josh came up with as a substitute. They buy 16 gallons of local blueberries when they’re in season and freeze them. They last the whole year. Sometimes in summer they offer a sour cream peach and blueberry pie. I want to be around when that happens.
The pie crust is dynamite. The topping is “sugar, cinnamon and a little flour.”
I asked Josh if he could ask his mom, Donna Belenchia, where she got the recipe. He called her on his cell phone while I was at the restaurant. She said she got it from her sister, Adaline Dreesan. I stopped there, but I would like to know where Dreesan got the recipe.
Buon Cibo doesn’t offer the pie every day. Like in January “when everyone is on a diet.” So, call ahead.
Foodies will remember Josh from Interim restaurant, where he was executive chef. Prior to that, he worked at the old Wally Joe restaurant, which inhabited the same building. He opened Buon Cibo seven years ago.
I ate two pieces of sour cream blueberry pie, but I also ate one of Josh’s “Awesome Sauce” hamburgers. The Awesome Sauce made with piquillo pepper aioli, arugula, bacon jam, pepperjack cheese, and fried onions.
While I was eating the hamburger I actually said aloud to nobody in particular, “This hamburger is awesome.”
Ditto for the sour cream blueberry pie.
Buon Cibo is at 2631 McIngvale Road in Hernando; (662)-469-9481
