fish pie
{{short description|Pie with the main ingredient being fish}}
{{Infobox prepared food
| name = Fish pie
| image = Fish Pie.jpg
| image_size = 250px
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| country = Britain
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| course =
| type = Savoury pie
| served =
| main_ingredient = White fish, cheddar sauce, prawns, hard-boiled eggs
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Fish pie, also known as fisherman's pie, is a traditional British dish.
Origins
According to Cook's Illustrated, the dish was likely created to make use of fish scraps during Lent.{{Cite web|last=Dunn|first=Steve|date=30 November 2021|title=Britain's Coziest Pie|url=https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/3953-britain-s-coziest-pie?j=74147&sfmc_sub=23207551&l=26_HTML&u=34946381&mid=7211371&jb=26042&sk=DA91AE5EF496429630336974F3F49B3E&extcode=LD22A4QAA&sourcekey=BD22014AA&cds_response_key=IED22AA4B&cds_tracking_code=&tag=cidnewsletter1-20&atc=cidnews&Survey_id=&mi_ecmp=%E2%80%8B&couponcode=|access-date=2022-01-25|website=Cook's Illustrated|language=en}} {{ill|John Murrell (cookery author)|lt=John Murrell's|la|Ioannes Murrell}} 1615 A New Booke of Cookerie contained recipes for eel and carp pies that called for scraps. {{ill|Jessup Whitehead|lt=Jessup Whitehead's|qid=Q127272476|short=yes}} 1889 The Steward’s Handbook and Guide to Party Catering instructs the cook to poach the fish, then drain it and cover it in cream before baking.
Ingredients
The pie is usually made with fresh and smoked fish (for example, cod, haddock, salmon or halibut) or seafood in a white sauce or cheddar cheese sauce made using the milk the fish was poached in.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}} Hard-boiled eggs are a common additional ingredient.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}} Parsley or chives are sometimes added to the sauce. It is oven-baked in a deep dish but is not usually made with the shortcrust or puff pastry casing that is associated with most savoury pies (e.g. steak and kidney pie).
In place of a pastry casing enclosing the pie, a topping of mashed potatoes (sometimes with cheese or vegetables such as onions and leeks added){{cite web |last1=Morelli |first1=Olivia |title=Recipe: How to make Richard Corrigan's fish pie at home |url=https://www.cntraveller.com/article/richard-corrigan-recipe-fish-pie-bentleys |website=Conde Naste Traveller |date=30 April 2020 |publisher=Condé Nast Britain |access-date=30 April 2020}} is used to cover the fish during baking. The dish is sometimes referred to as "fisherman's pie" because the mashed potato topping is similar to that used for shepherd's pie.
Royal fish pie
Gifts of fish pie to the king were a common tradition for various occasions. In a Lenten tradition, the town of Yarmouth was required to bake 100 herrings into two dozen pies and send them to the king.[http://www.thebookofdays.com/months/feb/24.htm Chambers Book of Days - February 24th, FISH AND FISH PIES IN LENT] The prior of Llanthony, Gloucester, baked eels and carp into a pie as a gift to Henry VIII in 1530. In 1752 one was sent to the Prince of Wales. The tradition was also recorded during the reign of Queen Victoria.{{Cite book|last=Snodgrass|first=Mary Ellen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJGNAgAAQBAJ&q=%22fish+pie%22|title=Encyclopedia of Kitchen History|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|isbn=978-1-135-45572-9|pages=381|language=en}}
Gallery
File:Baked stargazy pie.jpg|The stargazy pie is a traditional Cornish pie made with the heads of pilchards protruding through the crust.
File:Fish pie.JPG|Fish pies are also popular in parts of Russia.
File:Fish Pie with Sweet Potato Topping.jpg|Fish pie with sweet potato topping
See also
{{Portal|Food}}
- Stargazy pie
- Shepherd's pie, an unrelated meat-based dish which also uses potato instead of pastry
- List of pies, tarts and flans
Notes
{{reflist}}
References
- Murdoch (2004) [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ro3e18nC6psC&q=%22Essential+Seafood+Cookbook%22 Essential Seafood Cookbook] Pies, casseroles and bakes, pp. 254–295. Murdoch Books. {{ISBN|9781740454124}}.
External links
- [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jan/27/how-cook-perfect-fish-pie How to cook perfect fish pie] The Guardian, 27 January 2011.
- Recipes for [https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/luxuryfishpie_67647 luxury fish pie] and [https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/fishermanspie_1914 fisherman's pie] from the BBC Food website.
{{seafood|state=expanded}}
{{British pies}}