Star Gazy Pie

Cecily Parsley's Note:

This is from a Cornwall Tourism website. The original version had unintelligible grammar, so I've taken the liberty of correcting that. Star Gazy Pie is a dish unique to Mousehole (a fishing village in West Cornwall with a most beautiful harbour). Prepared in the Ship Inn, eaten on 23rd December (Tom Bawcock's Eve). Long ago, winter storms had prevented the fishing boats putting to sea. In a lull of the bad weather, one fisherman (Tom Bawcock) managed to catch enough fish to prevent the village from starving. A pie of many fishes was made from the catch: Star Gazy Pie.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 6

Yield: 1.0 pie

• 6 -8 raw pilchard herring fillets or 6 -8 sardines
• 2 eggs
• 3 slices bacon
• 1 lemon
• 1 medium onion
• salt and pepper (to season, sea salt for greater authencity)
• parsley , and tarragon for flavouring and garnish
• 1 (500 g) package frozen flaky pastry dough

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Gut, clean and bone the fish, leaving on the heads and tails. Finely chop the onion. Chop the bacon into 1/4" squares. Cut the lemon in half; set two slices of lemon aside for decoration. Squeeze and save the juice. Finely grind the lemon rind. Boil the eggs until soft, not hard. When cooled, cut eggs into small dice.
3. Thaw pastry and cut into 2 equal halves. Roll one piece out to line the bottom of an 8" glass pie plate. cut off overlapping edges, and brush edges with milk or water to ensure the pastry lid will stick in place.
4. Then place all chopped ingredients, with seasoning, into the lined pie dish. Cover with the pther rolled-out pastry lid, trimming overlap and crimping edges together.
5. Carefully cut slits into top pastry lid, hold open with a knife blade and gently push the whole fish into these slots, leaving just the heads and tails showing. Add lemon juice and then seal up the slits. Brush the now completed pie with a beaten egg.
6. Place in middle oven for about 30 minutes, until golden brown. Serve piping hot with a parsley sprig and lemon garnish and new potatoes.