Fish Pie---?

[Anna Morris]

All of a sudden YouTube has decided I should watch British fish pie cooking tapes. As you all know I am never ashamed to admit ignorance so I'll say this is all new to me. Is this really a common dish in England? Looks like there are a couple ways to do it, with pie crust or with mashed potatoes. I'm curious what everyone thinks about fish pie.

I think I would really like it but am not sure I would want to mix salmon and white fish. What is the advantage of that?

~~~~~~~~~

This is a recipe section so let me say I cook quite a bit of salmon on a cedar plank which is a Native American tradition. The cedar planks are sold for the purpose so are chemical free, etc. Soak overnight. Put salmon filet on board, skin side down. Rub with clover honey and apply spices of choice. (Can include thin lemon slices, etc. I use a mixed lemon peel spice plus black pepper and Spice Provencal.

Put into gas barbecue, lid down, low heat if heat can be regulated, about 25 minutes, till done. If you can't regulate heat or don't use gas, you'll have to work it out. WHATEVER the heat source, fish MUST be checked about every 5 minutes. If the board begins to burn, spray down fish and board with water. Reduce heat if possible.

All this lends a smoky, cedarwood taste to the fish. I cook quite a bit of it at one time and it heats nicely as leftover, over a gentle steam bath.

I've shared my recipe, now tell me about fish pie! Thanks.

And while we're at it, I have another fishy question that's actually off my general topic but I can't resist asking it somewhere. What UK accent pronounces "purpose" like "porpoise"? Just like the mammal in the sea, "porpoise"? I had never heard this before and had to go back in a video because I thought he was saying "corpus" & I spent so much time figuring that out that I lost track of the subject matter. The fellow sounds Irish.

[String]

Hi Anna, never had fish pie in my life and I can’t recall ever seeing it on a menu. Porpoise, might be Cornwall, Devon?

[Gary Barnett]

Hi Anna, never had fish pie in my life and I can’t recall ever seeing it on a menu. Porpoise, might be Cornwall, Devon?

Fish pie, the mash-topped version, is commonplaice throughout the land. Tesco's do a pretty good version, but my personal favourite is served up in the Harbour Inn, Lyme Regis.

In Cornwall they do a pastry version called star gazey pie with the heads of mackerel (I think) sticking up out of the crust.

Delicious.

[Gary Barnett]

Star Gazey Pie

[Gary Barnett]

The ingredients are a matter of personal taste, but salmon, smoked haddock and prawns are probably the most common. A creamy, peppery sauce and some fluffy mash on top are essential.

[Gary Barnett]

All of a sudden YouTube has decided I should watch British fish pie cooking tapes. As you all know I am never ashamed to admit ignorance so I'll say this is all new to me. Is this really a common dish in England? Looks like there are a couple ways to do it, with pie crust or with mashed potatoes. I'm curious what everyone thinks about fish pie.

I think I would really like it but am not sure I would want to mix salmon and white fish. What is the advantage of that?

~~~~~~~~~

This is a recipe section so let me say I cook quite a bit of salmon on a cedar plank which is a Native American tradition. The cedar planks are sold for the purpose so are chemical free, etc. Soak overnight. Put salmon filet on board, skin side down. Rub with clover honey and apply spices of choice. (Can include thin lemon slices, etc. I use a mixed lemon peel spice plus black pepper and Spice Provencal.

Put into gas barbecue, lid down, low heat if heat can be regulated, about 25 minutes, till done. If you can't regulate heat or don't use gas, you'll have to work it out. WHATEVER the heat source, fish MUST be checked about every 5 minutes. If the board begins to burn, spray down fish and board with water. Reduce heat if possible.

All this lends a smoky, cedarwood taste to the fish. I cook quite a bit of it at one time and it heats nicely as leftover, over a gentle steam bath.

I've shared my recipe, now tell me about fish pie! Thanks.

And while we're at it, I have another fishy question that's actually off my general topic but I can't resist asking it somewhere. What UK accent pronounces "purpose" like "porpoise"? Just like the mammal in the sea, "porpoise"? I had never heard this before and had to go back in a video because I thought he was saying "corpus" & I spent so much time figuring that out that I lost track of the subject matter. The fellow sounds Irish.

Anna, I reckon 'purpose' might sound like 'porpus' if said by someone with a heavy northern Irish accent. Someone like this Strabane man:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij_5UGpjUsU

[Sam Flynn]

Purpose rhyming with corpus sounds like Irish to me, more Republic of Ireland than Northern Ireland. Offhand, I can't think of a mainland British accent that would pronounce it that way.

[Gary Barnett]

Purpose rhyming with corpus sounds like Irish to me, more Republic of Ireland than Northern Ireland. Offhand, I can't think of a mainland British accent that would pronounce it that way.

Dublin, definitely, but Belfast too I would have said.

[Sam Flynn]

Dublin, definitely, but Belfast too I would have said.

You're right, Gary. I've just remembered my mate, Mick Connell from Belfast, pronouncing it that way.

[Sam Flynn]

[ATTACH]18199[/ATTACH]

Ah, Star Gazey Pie, from the wonderfully named Cornish village of Mousehole.

[Gary Barnett]

Ah, Star Gazey Pie, from the wonderfully named Cornish village of Mousehole.

Which you must pronounce mouzle so as not to appear a complete arzle of a grockle.

[Phillip Walton]

Fish pie was originally a way of using up the 'trimmings' left over from the preparation of fish for other means of cooking. At one time these would have been thrown away or fed to the cat. During WW2 when food was in short supply or rationed the idea of fish pie was thought up to use these pieces of fish. Any sort of fish was used but cod and salmon are large fish and consequently produce the greater number of trimmings.

[Sam Flynn]

During WW2 when food was in short supply or rationed the idea of fish pie was thought up to use these pieces of fish.

I'd like to think that the idea for fish pie was dreamt up by Dr Magnus Pyke. Some of you will remember him as the archetypal "mad scientist" on British TV in the 1970s, but he previously worked at the Ministry of Food, and came up with a number of innovative suggestions for people to make the most of their meagre rations during WWII.

[Michael Banks]

All of a sudden YouTube has decided I should watch British fish pie cooking tapes. As you all know I am never ashamed to admit ignorance so I'll say this is all new to me. Is this really a common dish in England? Looks like there are a couple ways to do it, with pie crust or with mashed potatoes. I'm curious what everyone thinks about fish pie.

I think I would really like it but am not sure I would want to mix salmon and white fish. What is the advantage of that?

~~~~~~~~~

This is a recipe section so let me say I cook quite a bit of salmon on a cedar plank which is a Native American tradition. The cedar planks are sold for the purpose so are chemical free, etc. Soak overnight. Put salmon filet on board, skin side down. Rub with clover honey and apply spices of choice. (Can include thin lemon slices, etc. I use a mixed lemon peel spice plus black pepper and Spice Provencal.

Put into gas barbecue, lid down, low heat if heat can be regulated, about 25 minutes, till done. If you can't regulate heat or don't use gas, you'll have to work it out. WHATEVER the heat source, fish MUST be checked about every 5 minutes. If the board begins to burn, spray down fish and board with water. Reduce heat if possible.

All this lends a smoky, cedarwood taste to the fish. I cook quite a bit of it at one time and it heats nicely as leftover, over a gentle steam bath.

I've shared my recipe, now tell me about fish pie! Thanks.

And while we're at it, I have another fishy question that's actually off my general topic but I can't resist asking it somewhere. What UK accent pronounces "purpose" like "porpoise"? Just like the mammal in the sea, "porpoise"? I had never heard this before and had to go back in a video because I thought he was saying "corpus" & I spent so much time figuring that out that I lost track of the subject matter. The fellow sounds Irish.

Hi Anna,

I’m definately not someone who cooks or knows anything about the subject but I have had fish pie many times. Over here you can get ready made ones that you just stick in the microwave. I’ve never heard of one with pastry though?
The ones that I’ve had are a combination of mashed potato, fish (there’s a surprise for you) and a sauce (either parsley or cheese.) No vegetables are added and the fish is usually cod but any fish can be used really. Haddock for one. Usually made in a baking dish. Fish and sauce at the bottom, mashed potato on the top then topped with cheese.

I’ve just remember Stargazy Pie which has a crust. Hope this link works Anna.

https://www.jusrol.co.uk/pastry-recipes/stargazey-pie

[Michael Banks]

Ah, Stargazy Pie has been mentioned already. I was a bit slow.