Stargazy Pie

Stargazy Pie ( about: stargazer pie) is a dish of the cuisine of Cornwall. Among the ingredients of the filling include sardines ( pilchard ) eggs and potatoes. There are several variations of the pie, but all have in common that fish heads sticking out of the dough, as if they look at the sky.

History

The Pie was born in the fishing village of Mousehole in Cornwall and is a legend of Tom Bawcock, a brave fishermen of the 16th century, connected. In a particularly stormy winter, the boats could not leave the harbor. As Christmas approached, threatened a famine because fish was the main source of food. On December 23, Tom Bawcock decided to weather the storm, and he managed to catch enough fish for the whole village. The total catch was made into a pie, containing seven kinds of fish, sticking out their heads to prove that fish was included. Since then the festival Bawcock Tom 's Eve is held every December 23 in Mousehole. Here, a huge Stargazy Pie is only performed in a lantern procession through the village and then consumed.

Bawcocks history and thus the pie was popularized by the children's book The Mousehole Cat by Antonia Barber. Mark Hix won in 2007 with a variant of the Court competition Great British Menu BBC.

Description

Stargazy Pie ( in the older literature also starry gazy pie or pasty Stargazy called ) is a pie that is traditionally filled with whole sardines. It is important that the heads of the fish stick through the pastry crust, as if they looked at the stars. This allows oil leaking during cooking, flow into the pie, ensuring that the flavor intensifies and the pie is juicy. Rick Stein recommends also to have some fish tails stand out to give the impression of jumping fish.

Although the British Food Trust classifies the court as entertaining for children, it was in the newspaper New York Daily News in the " Yuck! Disgusting things people eat " classified as nauseating, based on a book by American author Neil Setchfield. During the festival, Tom Bawcock 's Eve it is served in The Ship Inn, the only pub in Mousehole, sometimes after a performance of the legend.

Recipes

In the first Pie belonged according to tradition, seven species of fish, including sand eel, horse mackerel, sardines, herring, dogfish and ling. In a traditional pie Sardine is the main ingredient, but it can be replaced with mackerel or herring. Richard Stevenson, Executive Chef at The Ship Inn, Mousehole, suggests that for filling any white fish is suitable, while sardine or herring are shown outside. Fish is skinned and freed from bones, except the head and tail. Other traditional ingredients are thickened milk, eggs and boiled potatoes.

There are many variants, which include, for example, hard boiled eggs, bacon, onions, mustard and white wine. Alternatively, crab, rabbit or sheep can be used instead of fish. In any case, the pie is covered with dough, usually shortcrust ( pastry ), sometimes puff pastry ( puff pastry ).

To serve, it is recommended that the tails to the center to have look out the heads at the edge of the pie. The dish can be enjoyed by itself, accompanied by crusty bread or sometimes vegetables. Other side dishes are Cornish Yarg, rhubarb chutney, poached eggs or lemon.