Cookbook talk:Stargazy Pie

No! This recipe is not authentic and won't even produce a palatable result! Stargazy Pie was called because the fish were baked standing upright on their tails - their (intact) heads thus pointing straight up, poking through the pastry layer. This was to prevent the oil inside the fish (usually pilchards but also herrings or mackerel are used) from leaching out into the pie. This recipes wants beheaded fish laid laterally and the heads arranged on top of the pastry. What would be the point of that - unless you thought fish heads make a good garnish? Secondly, a large handful of fresh parsley and a bay-leaf or two were always added (both of which commonly grow in garden plots in the area and invariably find their way into most savoury dishes) and thirdly, clotted cream - plentiful and no more expensive in the necessary quantity (about a spoonful) than egg and always preferred - is added through a little centre gap in the pastry AFTER the pie has cooked. THIS RECIPE here WILL NOT WORK! I'm not blaming the poster of it - a Cornish Women's Institure book should have a good recipe, right? Not from that date. No one made in the 60's - its been revived recently but regular authentic use didn't survive WWI. By then, it was just folklore and this recipe is someone's idea of it based upon a standard shortcrust pastry pie technique. I'll post mine. Directly.90.242.102.64 (talk) 02:52, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

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As I haven't bothered to try this, I can only imagine that the recipe doesn't taste paticulaly good - but one thing is certain and that is that the dish has absolutely nothing to do with the original version, where the entire boned fish is covered with pastry and the fish heads stick out looking upwards. LB --- is the picture location from wikipedia