Humble origins of a very versatile dish

‘Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye, four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.” Pies, which have a long and illustrious history, are arguably one of the most versatile food structures. Not only do they come in all shapes and sizes, but they can be served hot or cold, filled with both sweet and savoury ingredients, and in some cases a mix of sweet and savoury (see recipe, left).

Perhaps one of the best-known pies was filled with live blackbirds and set before a king.

This might sound improbable, but actually such pies were brought to the table as a form of amusement between servings.

Yes, the birds were alive when placed in the pie, which would be made from a thick pastry crust, known as a ‘coffin’, which had been cooked previously.

Having placed the live birds inside a cooked pastry coffin, a cover with air holes inserted was balanced on top to be removed when the pie was presented to the guests.

As you can imagine, this caused mayhem. However, once the room was free of rather startled birds, the loose feathers and bird droppings were cleared away and a proper pie was ceremoniously carried in so that the feast could continue.

Another pie that has gone down in history for its filling and appearance is the Cornish stargazy pie — sometimes named starry gazy pie. This fishy dish, which is said to have originated in Mousehole, dates back to the 16th century and was first served to celebrate the bravery of Tim Bawcock, a local fisherman who saved the villagers from starvation by braving a stormy sea at a time when none of the local boats could leave the harbour.

Despite the rough conditions, his catch was sufficient to feed the entire village, but to make it go further, the fish were placed in a pie, which was decorated with the fish heads that stuck out of the crust to prove there were fish inside.

Since that day, his bravery has been celebrated by the villagers, who parade a large stargazy pie through Mousehole on December 23, known as Tim Bawcock’s Eve.

Because of the fish heads sticking out of the pie crust, it makes for a stunning addition to a buffet table.

The ‘fair dinkum’ Australian meat pies — which came about from the early settlers’ tenacious attempt to keep their food as English as possible — still rates as one of Australia’s favourite foods, particularly if served with tomato sauce.

When attending a childhood obesity summit, the then premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr, actually blamed the traditional Aussie meat pies for the very child obesity that they were discussing.

These pies, mostly manufactured rather than cooked in the home, are particularly popular because the small individual pies can be eaten easily without the need of a knife and fork. Meats permitted in an Australian meat pie are: beef, buffalo, camel, cattle, deer, goat, hare, pig, poultry, rabbit, sheep and kangaroo. Wild animals slaughtered in their wild state are not used.

From very early days most of the pies eaten in Australia were manufactured. Cooking in a domestic kitchen without air conditioning during the 19th century was difficult, therefore it was far better to buy a bag of pies from the corner shop, and hotel bars.

Sweet or savoury: Pies have a long history

Obviously, settlers living in the middle of nowhere had to fend for themselves, using lamb as the main ingredient. Pie shops, however, were also a feature of the goldfields, selling in their thousands wherever the miners gathered.

Early settlers to America took their pie recipes with them too, though the fillings were originally created from fruits and berries rather than meat. Of all pies that have made their mark on our cuisine, the Humble Pie or umble pie as it was once known, has certainly earned its place in culinary history.

It began life in the medieval period as a pie filled with the edible inner parts of an animal (most particularly deer). The filling would have consisted of chopped minced parts of the beast’s pluck — the heart, liver, lungs, lights and kidneys, all of which would have been the food of the lower classes.

Charles Dickens mentioned this pie in David Copperfield and Samuel Pepys made several references to it in his diary, though it seems his pies were made mostly from roasted deer flesh rather than the “umbles”.

The fascinating thing about the humble pie is the way it has gradually woven its way into our language. To admit eating humble pie is to act submissively and apologetically having committed an error.

Tomorrow (Friday, January 23), it is National Pie Day in America, when apple pie will feature large.

We go a step further and celebrate a National Pie Week, which gets under way on March 2 and runs until March 8. The pie you bake to celebrate it is up to you.