Fish Pie with Tench and Eels

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Fish Pie with Tench and Eels

Fish Pie with Tench and Eels is a traditional British recipe, based on Mrs Beeton's recipe of 1861, for a classic pie of tench and eels with spiced fish stock that's covered in puff pastry and oven baked. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Fish Pie with Tench and Eels.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

90 minutes

Total Time:

110 minutes

Serves:

6–8

Rating:

Tags : Herb Recipes Fish Recipes Egg Recipes Baking Recipes British Recipes

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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from the redoubtable Mrs Beeton's 1861 volume Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, the classic Victorian cookbook.

Original Recipe

349. INGREDIENTS.—2 tench, 2 eels, 2 onions, a faggot of herbs, 4 blades of mace, 3 anchovies, 1 pint of water, pepper and salt to taste, 1 teaspoonful of chopped parsley, the yolks of 6 hard-boiled eggs, puff paste.

Mode.—Clean and bone the tench, skin and bone the eels, and cut them into pieces 2 inches long, and leave the sides of the tench whole. Put the bones into a stewpan with the onions, herbs, mace, anchovies, water, and seasoning, and let them simmer gently for 1 hour. Strain it off, put it to cool, and skim off all the fat. Lay the tench and eels in a pie-dish, and between each layer put seasoning, chopped parsley, and hard-boiled eggs; pour in part of the strained liquor, cover in with puff paste, and bake for 1/2 hour or rather more. The oven should be rather quick, and when done, heat the remainder of the liquor, which pour into the pie.

Time.—1/2 hour to bake, or rather more if the oven is slow.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

2 tench
2 eels
2 onions, quartered
1 bunch of herbs
4 blades of mace
6 anchovy fillets
600ml water
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
1 tsp parsley, finely chopped
6 hard-boiled egg yolks, sieved
puff pastry

Method:

Clean, wash, fillet and pin-bone the tench then set the flesh aside. Now skin and bone the eel. To skin and gut, hold it down by the head on a solid work surface with a towel (an eel is very slippery). With a sharp knife, make an incision around the neck, just below the head. The thick filmy skin will separate. Grip the skin with a pair of pliers, and pull it down the length of the eel to the tail and cut it off. Make a slit down the length of the stomach and pull out the innards. Rinse the eel well under cold running water. To bone the eel, make a slit down the back and remove the backbone then cut into pieces 5cm long.

For the stock, combine the tench and eel bones in a pan with the onions, herbs, mace, anchovy fillets, water and seasonings. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 60 minutes. Pass through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl and discard the solids. Allow the liquid to cool then skim off any surface fat.

Layer the tench and eels in a deep pie dish. Between each layer scatter some parsley, seasoning and egg yolks. Pour over the fish stock then cover the dish with puff pastry. Prick to form steam holes then transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the fish is cooked. Serve warm.

Find more Mrs Beeton Recipes Hereand more Traditional Victorian Recipes Here