As Sweet Elena’s (and a squad of Marines) knows, pie can mean more than just dessert.

In 1942 correspondent John Hersey joined Marines on a patrol into enemy-held jungle on Guadalcanal for what became the classic Into the Valley: A Skirmish of the Marines.

During a pause along the way, Hersey posed a direct question to some of the men. The war had gone badly for the U.S. to that point and supplies were only trickling to the island. So he asked them, “What would you say you were fighting for?” He described a long silence and wandering eyes before a Marine responded – not to him, but to the group.

“He whispered: ‘Jesus, what I’d give for a piece of blueberry pie.’

“Another whispered: ‘Personally, I prefer mince.’

“A third whispered: ‘Make mine apple with a few raisins in it and lots of cinnamon: you know, Southern style.’”

Katy Matias of Sweet Elena’s Artisan Bakery and Cafe understands the sentiment. Her Sand City spot is known for its pies.

Unlike preparing dinner, baking a pie is a more leisurely process – some down time with your mother or grandmother in the kitchen. “In that time you have special moments,” Matias says. “These conversations are the best. You have this delicious aroma, the kitchen is warming up, it’s cozy – the fondest memories.”

But Matias chuckles over the preference for mincemeat, a traditional pie filled with cured fruits, orange peel and spices – for starters. She makes the occasional mincemeat pie at Sweet Elena’s, but it is never a bestseller. Many people think of it as a pot pie and ask which meat she used.

“It’s a throwback,” Matias adds, one forgotten among the appealing pecans and pumpkins, apples and peaches, or the bakery’s popular olallieberry pie.

Every year in November, Sweet Elena’s hosts pie tastings for the undecided – or those who simply love pie; an American Pie Council survey found that an overwhelming majority of people in this country will occasionally turn to pie for breakfast or lunch. With the approaching holiday family gatherings in mind, the tastings provide a selection of nine different pieces.

“Where do you get a whole plate of pie?” Matias wonders.

Preferences vary by individual and era. Banana cream was the choice for pie-in-the-face gags in early films. Desperation pies such as vinegar – essentially a cheap custard – emerged with pantries stretched thin during the Depression. Mud pies were a diner favorite in the 1970s.

Many pies have regional beginnings. The Boston cream pie first gained notice in the 1850s at that city’s Parker House Hotel. You travel to Pennsylvania’s Amish communities for a traditional shoefly pie.

Recent surveys are relatively consistent, with apple, pecan, pumpkin and cherry polling at or near the top. According to Matias, demand also changes by the season. Olallieberry and strawberry-rhubarb sell well much of the year. But come pie season, guests ask for apple, pecan and pumpkin.

“Some days there is not a corner where there is not a pie cooling,” she adds.

For the tasting, Sweet Elena’s is preparing the favorites, as well as an apple-cranberry crumble, a lemon tart and Matias’ pie of choice, chocolate-caramel-walnut. There is also a gluten-free plate.

Pie season proper – November and December, Thanksgiving and Christmas – reflects the association with home, hearth and family gatherings. Matias added a take and bake case at the bakery and cafe, where people can buy dough or fillings.

“We have a lot of customers who love baking,” she says. “They’ll come in and show us what they made. It’s a labor of love.”

Veterans Day falls in November, as well. The episode recorded by Hersey in Into the Valley is a reminder that pie is also a connection.

“Fighting for pie,” he wrote, noting that the men had answered his question very specifically. Hersey realized the men were not fighting for pie in any literal sense. Rather, the dish had become symbolic of something fundamental: home – and not to defend it, but simply to “‘get the goddam thing over and get home.’”

“Home is where the good things are,” he continued. “The generosity, the good pay, the comforts, the democracy, the pie.”

PIE TASTINGS take place 9am-2pm Saturday, Nov. 14 and Nov. 21. Sweet Elena’s Artisan Bakery and Cafe, 465 Olympia Ave., Sand City. $15. Payment in advance required. (831) 393-2063, sweetelenas.com.