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Stargazy pie, with sardines looking skywards before it is baked in the oven

Stargazy pie is a Cornish dish made of baked pilchards, covered with a pastry crust. The pilchards are arranged with their tails toward the centre of the pie and their heads poking up through the crust around the edge, so that they appear to be gazing skyward.

The dish originates from the village of Mousehole in Cornwall, and is traditionally eaten during the holiday of Tom Bawcock's Eve.

[edit] Recipes

The primary ingredient of the pie is the pilchard (sardine), although mackerel or herring is used as a substitution. Along with the fish, a typical stargazy pie would contain hard-boiled eggs, bacon, onion and mustard. Many recipe variations around these ingredients exist, some which include boiled potatoes and white wine. All recipes for the stargazy pie are topped with a shortcrust pastry lid, through which the fish heads and even tails protrude.

[edit] Stargazy pie in modern culture

[edit] Tom Bawcock's Eve

Tom Bawcock's Eve festival is held on the 23rd of December in Mousehole, Cornwall. The celebration and memorial to the efforts of Tom Bawcock, a fisherman of Mousehole, sees the villagers parading in a lantern procession and eating stargazy pie, the food that was eaten by the residents after his return through the storm.

[edit] The Mousehole Cat

The children's book The Mousehole Cat by Antonia Barber, inspired by Tom Bawcock's Eve, sees Tom Bawcock setting sail with his cat Mowzer to catch the fish. Ms Barber lists Star-Gazy Pie as a staple of Mousehole diet before Tom's heroic fishing expedition, however, whereas according to tradition it dates from his return and legendary catch.

[edit] External links

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Stargazy Pie

• Stargazy pie recipe and image
• Stargazy pie, description, history, recipe and image

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