One last thing, you set the sortset in the portal:
<portal
id="Whatever"
style="VerySilly"
width="blimplike"
roles="createpies">
<chooser_table
component="Whatever"
choosetemplate="Whatever"
descwidth="Whatever"
candidatepick="Whatever"
candidatefield="Whatever"
choosesortset="YOURSORTSETHERE"
showupdate="Whatever">
choosesortset="YOURSORTSETHERE" is the important bit