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Cornish Stargazy Pie with Whole Pilchards, Eggs, Bacon and Shortcrust
The legendary folklore pie of Mousehole, Cornwall commemorating Tom Bawcock: whole fresh pilchards or sardines with heads gazing up through a golden shortcrust pastry lid, baked over potatoes, bacon, and hard-boiled eggs.
Prep
30 min
Cook
45 min
Total
75 min
Oven
190Ā°C (170Ā°C vent.)
Ingredients
servings
6
- Fresh sardines or pilchards gutted, heads and tails left intact8 pc
- All-butter shortcrust pastry sheet350 g
- Cooked potatoes sliced thick400 g
- Smoked bacon diced and browned120 g
- Hard-boiled eggs sliced3 pc
- Yellow onion diced and softened150 g
- Fresh parsley chopped20 g
- Heavy cream80 ml
- Egg yolk beaten for glazing1 pc
- Sea salt4 g
Preparation Steps
1
Layer sliced cooked potatoes, sautƩed onions, crisp bacon, sliced hard-boiled eggs, and parsley in a buttered pie dish. Pour seasoned heavy cream over the filling.
2
Arrange whole sardines in a spokes pattern across the filling, tails pointing toward center and heads resting on the rim gazing upward.
3
Drape shortcrust over the pie, cutting slits to allow the fish heads and tails to poke through, gazing toward the stars. Crimp edges, brush with egg yolk, and bake at 190Ā°C for 40-45 minutes until crisp and golden brown. Serve hot.
Cooking Journal
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Nutrition Facts
per servingCalories
490
Protein
32g
Carbohydrates
38g
Fat
24g
Allergens
FishGlutenMilkEggs
*estimated values per serving
Provenance & Public Domain Audit
Source: Traditional British & Celtic Gastronomic Archives / Public Domain Cookbooks (The National Archives & Historic UK Culinary Collections)
Legal status: Public Domain (Crown Copyright Expired / CC0-compatible) ā¢ 17 U.S.C. Ā§ 105
License: Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal
