Read any good books lately?

 
      Here is my kitchen library.  As you can see I have quite a collection of books dealing with the culinary arts.  Some are classified by topic: pasta, chicken, crab, sauce, fish & shellfish, bread, and soup.  Others are according to location:  New England, Santa Fe, Italy, Tuscany, France, Provence, & America.  But perhaps my favorite book in the collection is one entitled "Death Warmed Over."  It is a collection of 75 recipes typically served at funeral ceremonies around the world and describes rituals and traditions associated with various cultures, from the Amish to Zoroastrianism.  It begins with this account:
    
     An elderly man was at home, dying in bed.  He smelled the aroma of his favorite chocolate chip cookies baking.  He wanted one last cookie before he died.
     He fell out of bed, crawled to the landing, rolled down the stairs, and dragged himself into the kitchen, where his wife was busy baking cookies.  With his strength waining, he made it to the table and was just barely able to lift his withered arm to the cookie rack.
     As he grasped a warm, moist chocolate chip cookie, his wife suddenly whacked his hand with a spatula.
     "Why?" he whispered.  "Why did you do that?"
     "They're for the funeral!"
    
So from time to time I will be providing snippets of information from this interesting collection of stories relating to funerals and food.  So for now I leave you with a question, 

What is the main ingredient in Funeral Pie?