Stargazy Pie
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Pastes hern lagesek is a traditional Cornish dish of a classic pie of fish, eggs, bacon and herbs baked in a rich shortcrust pie shell. This dish (which is unique to Mousehole in the West of Cornwall) evolved as a way of using-up small fish from the catch that could not be sold at market. Typically, many different fish are used and the heads or tails are arranged so that they poke out from the pie. In that spirit both pilchards (large sardines) and small mackerel are used here, but you could use just sardines or just small mackerel. Traditionally it’s served on the 23rd of December, but it is also popular as a fish dish served on Good Friday.
Prep time 30 minutes/Cook time 30 minutes/Serves 8
Ingredients:
4 herring (or pilchards)
4 mackerel
3 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped
3 rashers of bacon, finely diced
1 lemon, halved
1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp tarragon, finely chopped
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp fine breadcrumbs
8 sprigs parsley
1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk to glaze
For the Rich Shortcrust Pastry:
500g (4 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
1 teaspoons sea salt
300g (1 ½ cups) butter
3 eggs
250ml (1 cup) cold water
Method:
Begin with the pastry: Mix together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Dice the butter then cut into the flour mixture until it is the consistency of breadcrumbs. Lightly beat the eggs together in a separate bowl, then stir into butter-flour mixture. Add water and mix just until incorporated, using your hands to bring dough together (you may not need all the water, depending on how dry your flour is). Cover the dough in clingfilm (plastic wrap) and set aside in the refrigerator until needed.
Gut, scale and clean the fish then remove the bones, but leave the heads and tails attached (if the fish are very fresh then the backbone should come free just using your fingertips). Cut a slice from each lemon half and set these aside to decorate the pie later.
Remove the pastry from the refrigerator, unwrap then take half and roll out until large enough to cover the base and sides of a 20cm (8 in) diameter shallow pie dish. Use the pastry to line the dish then cut off any excess. Scatter the breadcrumbs over the base of your pie then take the fish and arrange these around the dish like the spokes of a wheel and setting them so that the heads point upwards and over the edge of the dish.
Mix together the chopped egg, onion, bacon and tarragon in a bowl. Use this mixture to fill the gaps between the fish (with larger fish the gut cavity was filled with the mixture as well). Squeeze the juice from the remaining lemon halves and pour this over the fish and the stuffing. Dot the butter over the fish.
Take the remaining pastry and roll out until large enough to cover the surface of the pie. Brush the lip of the lower piece of pastry with milk or egg yolk, then place over the top of the pie then cut out slits or holes so that the heads of the fish can poke through. Trim the excess pastry away then crimp the pastry together with thumb and forefingers (use the typical Cornish method used for pasties if you can).
Coat the finished pie with the glaze mix then transfer to an oven pre-heated to 200ºC (400ºF) and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown and the fish is cooked through.
Serve piping hot, with a sprig of parsley in the mouth of each fish. Typically, this is accompanied by boiled new potatoes.
