You are absolutely about the pie gene. Two things immediately fill in my brain after reading your lovely essay:
1. I immediately googled a recipe for Hunters Pie( thank you). The one from Saveur sounds yum and already I am thinking about messing with the ingredients. Love doing that!
2. Do you know the story of American chess pie?
Oh, a third: I recently wrote about CanadianTourtière. What’s not to love?
Good luck if you launch your pie challenge. I hope you will write all about it here and a book too?