Fish pie

Fish pie
Type	Savoury pie
Place of origin	Britain
Main ingredients	White fish, cheddar sauce, prawns, hard-boiled eggs
	Media: Fish pie;

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.^[1] John Murrell's 1615 A New Booke of Cookerie contained recipes for eel and carp pies that called for scraps.^[1] Jessup Whitehead's 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.^[1]

Ingredients

The pie is usually made with fresh and smoked fish (for example, cod, haddock, salmon or halibut) or seafood in a white sauce^[1] or cheddar cheese sauce made using the milk the fish was poached in.^{[citation needed]} Hard-boiled eggs are a common additional ingredient.^{[citation needed]} 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).^[1]

In place of a pastry casing enclosing the pie, a topping of mashed potatoes^[1] (sometimes with cheese or vegetables such as onions and leeks added)^[2] 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.^[1]

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.^[3]^[4] The prior of Llanthony, Gloucester, baked eels and carp into a pie as a gift to Henry VIII in 1530.^[4] In 1752 one was sent to the Prince of Wales. The tradition was also recorded during the reign of Queen Victoria.^[4]

Gallery

The stargazy pie is a traditional Cornish pie made with the heads of pilchards protruding through the crust.
Fish pies are also popular in parts of Russia.
Fish pie with sweet potato topping

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Dunn, Steve (30 November 2021). "Britain's Coziest Pie". Cook's Illustrated. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
^ Morelli, Olivia (30 April 2020). "Recipe: How to make Richard Corrigan's fish pie at home". Conde Naste Traveller. Condé Nast Britain. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
^ Chambers Book of Days - February 24th, FISH AND FISH PIES IN LENT
^ ^a ^b ^c Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (2004). Encyclopedia of Kitchen History. Routledge. p. 381. ISBN 978-1-135-45572-9.

References

Murdoch (2004) Essential Seafood Cookbook Pies, casseroles and bakes, pp. 254–295. Murdoch Books. ISBN 9781740454124.

External links

How to cook perfect fish pie The Guardian, 27 January 2011.
Recipes for luxury fish pie and fisherman's pie from the BBC Food website.

[:0-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Dunn, Steve (30 November 2021). "Britain's Coziest Pie". Cook's Illustrated. Retrieved 2022-01-25.

[2] Morelli, Olivia (30 April 2020). "Recipe: How to make Richard Corrigan's fish pie at home". Conde Naste Traveller. Condé Nast Britain. Retrieved 30 April 2020.

[3] Chambers Book of Days - February 24th, FISH AND FISH PIES IN LENT

[:1-4] Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (2004). Encyclopedia of Kitchen History. Routledge. p. 381. ISBN 978-1-135-45572-9.

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