Fish pie, also known as fisherman's pie, is a traditional British cuisine dish.
Origins
According to
Cook's Illustrated, the dish was likely created to make use of fish scraps during
Lent.
1615
A New Booke of Cookerie contained recipes for eel and carp pies that called for scraps.
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. Hard-boiled eggs are a common additional ingredient.
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
Royal fish pie
Gifts of fish pie to the king were a common tradition for various occasions. In a
Lenten tradition, the town of
Great Yarmouth was required to bake 100 herrings into two dozen pies and send them to the king.
[ 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.
Gallery
File:Baked stargazy pie.jpg|The stargazy pie is a traditional Cornwall 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
-
Stargazy pie
-
Shepherd's pie, an unrelated meat-based dish which also uses potato instead of pastry
-
List of pies, tarts and flans
Notes
External links
