Stargazer Pie
Posted by Ben Garfinkel on Friday, March 23rd, 2007Tags for this Article: chicken-pot-pie, duck-shank-pie, hampton-court-palace, meat, meat-pies, pilchards, stargazer, Travel, tudor, tudors
I’ve always loved chicken pot and other meat pies. Not that I’m sure why although I am about one quarter British once removed, and the Tudors were renouned for their roasted meats and meat pies in particular.
I remember touring the Tudor kitchens at Hampton Court Palace many years ago whilst on a pan-Eurpoean jaunt and thinking how amazing it would have been to feast on the delicacies that would have been coming out of that kitchen for the King. Then last night on television there was an hour long show on Tudor cooking. Oh, what excess. Massive meals were prepared and presented to the King for him to then pick and chose what he wanted to eat. Then they demonstrated the preparation for something called a Stargazer Pie made with pilchards (small whole fish) which had their heads poking out of the pastry. It looked a bit silly frankly, and the name suggests a kind of taxidermic approach to culinary presentation.
Regardless, I was intrigued. A search online this morning turned up very little information about this historical pie, but I did find a recipe for Duck Shank Pie inspired by it. Though in this case the concept of the contents poking up through the crust to stargaze seems to have been overlooked. In fact, this one has me thinking of upturned ducks, sans webbed feet, fishing in a pond. Yet, duck, savory filling, golden crust…yum.
I may have to try this one! And if you have any info, photos or recipes for an original Stargazer pie, please let me know. Be interesting to try out.
Posted on May 12th, 2007
brian voss says:
have you the great britih menu version
Posted on October 11th, 2007
Ben Garfinkel says:
No, I don’t. If you have, please share Brian!
Posted on September 12th, 2008
Benn says:
Interesting… as Stargazer is another name for Monkfish.
Also, (you may already be aware!) the reason for having things poking through the crust is to allow steam to pass from the pie mixture.
Normally, you’d use a hollow bone, or you can get a pie funnel / vent – like one of these: http://www.piebirds.co.uk/what%20is%20a%20pie%20bird.htm
Oh, as for food in Tokyo as opposed to Sydney. Tough call, however I would venture to say Sydney. It is home to the fifth ranked restaurant in the world and has some absolutely amazing dining experiences.
It would be unfair to exclude either of them! :)
Posted on August 12th, 2009
Larry Hartwell says:
Hi Foodiests
Here is the origin of Starry Gazey Pie from Mousehole in Cornwall (pronounced Mowzul) it is part of the Tom Bawcock story, a local fisherman who put to sea when the winetr storms had left the people of Mousehole starving
http://www.cornishculture.co.uk/tom.htm
Posted on April 24th, 2010
Lawrence Aberle says:
The Stargazer, The
Monkfish. or The Anglerfish!!! “It has a unique texture and flavor. The
slightly chewy texture and mild flavor with a slight sweetness has made it
very popular and earned it the nickname “poor man’s lobster.”” Ref:
http://www.sea-ex.com/fishphotos/stargaze.htm.
Ref:http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/descript/stargazersouth/stargazers
outh.htm says, “It lives most of its life inshore, on or under sandy, silty,
and rubble bottoms at depths to 230 feet (70m). This fish possesses a
special talent: it is able to create electrical currents from a specialized
organ located in a pouch behind the eyes. The rate of electric discharge
depends upon the temperature, with a maximum of 50 volts. It is used
primarily to fend off aggressive, threatening fish rather than for prey
capture.” Very interesting!!! I say cook with butter!
Posted on April 24th, 2010
Lawrence Aberle says:
The Stargazer, The Monkfish. or The Anglerfish!!! “It has a unique texture and flavor. The slightly chewy texture and mild flavor with a slight sweetness has made it very popular and earned it the nickname “poor man’s lobster.”” Ref:http://www.sea-ex.com/fishphotos/stargaze.htm.
Ref:http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/descript/stargazersouth/stargazers outh.htm says, “It lives most of its life inshore, on or under sandy, silty, and rubble bottoms at depths to 230 feet (70m). This fish possesses a special talent: it is able to create electrical currents from a specialized organ located in a pouch behind the eyes. The rate of electric discharge depends upon the temperature, with a maximum of 50 volts. It is used primarily to fend off aggressive, threatening fish rather than for prey
capture.” Very interesting!!! I say cook with butter!
Posted on April 26th, 2010
Ben Garfinkel says:
Thanks Lawrence! Worth investigating for sure.
Posted on May 22nd, 2018
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