Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Fish pie weirdness

I like making weird pies. In fact, I don't really enjoy making them unless they're weird. Nothing wrong with a good old fruit pie, but really, show me something new! A few years ago, a customer asked me to make the weirdest (real) pie I'd ever heard of: a Stargazey pie, with real fish heads sticking out, their bodies baked into the shell. Oooh, I was going to relish this! I looked up some pics and did a little research, then set to work. I had been making strange pies before this, but this was pretty over the top! Since then, I've gotten alot of requests for Stargazeys, and I've enjoyed making every single one, adding a bit of variation . This simple fish pie, like the one below, is another one that I don't mind making more than once or twice....but that may be because I just like making fish, period. Would I want to eat it? Probably not, because the combo of pastry and fish I find a bit.... revolting :-p


8 comments:

  1. Oh, curry sardine puffs are nice ! :) I wonder how people bake real fish pies are baked. Do they use moulds? LOL! Love the colours of this one.

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  2. I once had some shellfish pastry "thing" that was pretty tasty but I think fin-fish and pastry might be a bit of a stretch. Yet, when that is all you have to eat, I suppose you can get used to anything. Isn't there some kind of eel pie that's eaten in the UK? Anyway...it looks pretty...

    Tabs

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  3. YES, you are right Tabitha! I did have something like a lobster puff pastry thing and it was killer! I guess I just imagined a fish pie with hundreds of little bones buried inside that you have to pick out :-O.

    You bring up a good point, too. If it's something you grow up with, nothing seems too "weird". Heck, my favorite part of the crab is that brownish gunk inside the shell body, sometimes known as "crab butter". Growing up, I ate everything my grandpa ate....and he ate some WEIRD stuff, lol!

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  4. Hey Sans, I like the curry puffs with the meat...I've never tried one with sardines!

    I think they use molds sometimes, but with the Stargazey, it's all about getting those heads in the pastry! I've seen pics of some artfully done ones and some....not so much. This is funny, but I just found a blog with a pic of the first one I made....and it's about how gross it is!! Look:

    http://fatalfoodies.blogspot.com/2009/04/nastiest-food-ever.html

    and

    http://fatalfoodies.blogspot.com/2009/04/stargazey-pie-in-miniature.html

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  5. omg that stargazey pie is only what, 1/4" wide!??!?

    Kiva, you're an alien in a human skin, right?

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  6. Haha!!! Cindy, it's 1" wide :-D! I'm not an alien, although my mom would beg to differ!

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  7. no Kiva, i meant the stargazey one with fish sticking out! this one is 1" wide right?

    sorry Kiva's Mom! didn't mean to insult! *goes off to buy a microscope*

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  8. Cindy yes, the stargazey is 1" wide! LOL!! My mom would AGREE with you if you called me an alien :-D!

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