SQUAB PIE

Another iconic traditional Cornish recipe whose roots are lost in the memories of our forebears, but this version stems from the older folk of Newlyn East - and that was in the 1920s! But they reckoned it was taught by the Phoenicians when they mined here. Who knows? But it is surely evidence of their influence. Squabs were originally pigeons [sometimes cormorants were also used] but these were replaced by mutton a long long time ago…..

I am using my 1920s book, of course, and the ingredients “are according to size of the pie”.  I made a fairly small one - see photos on my Blog, feeding 2 or 3.

I could not get “mutton chops, with bones and fat removed” :)  so plumped for lamb leg steaks. The recipe also suggested boiling the bones for stock. I used a stock pot!

You need - Lamb, Apples, Onions, Currants, brown sugar, mixed spice, salt, stock. Pastry for crust.

I quartered and sliced a medium onion, peeled and quartered 2 apples and tossed them in lemon juice to keep their colour. Then assembled the rest.

In your pie dish, place a layer of lamb, a layer of sliced apples. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Then a layer of onions. Season well - I also used fresh ground pepper as well as sea salt.

Then a layer of currants, sprinkling over a little mixed spice. Another layer of lamb and finish with another layer of apples. Season once more and pour over some stock.

I do not have a “slow fire”  with which to boil the dish uncovered for 1½ hours. Maybe they needed that long because the mutton may have been tough! I popped my pie into my oven uncovered for 45 mins at 150 deg C.

Then I took out of my freezer a portion of Easy Peasy Puff Pastry [as used in Figgy ‘obbin].

The ingredients are a strange mix, I must admit and I have no idea what it will taste like, but as I type the smell is wonderful! 

I prepare and roll out the crust to top the squab pie, but allow the pie to cool for 15 mins before placing the pastry. Pop a slit in the centre then bake for about 30-40 mins at 200 C.

The book said 1 hour but these days our puff pastry cooks more quickly in our hot ovens.

This dish tasted very different, and a strange mix of sweet and savoury! My ‘guinea pigs” tucked in, [I served it with mashed potatoes and green beans] and thought it very unusual, the sweet ingredients overpowered the lamb and onions but not unpleasantly so, my husband who has a sweet tooth enjoyed it!