Barton Broad Pike & Eel Pie
Barton Broad, Neatishead: a dusk catch turned to pie in one tin
Jack pike and slippery young eels from the Broads make a low, dark-oven hand pie that sits well beside a lantern. Use 500–700 g total fish: 300–450 g pike, 150–250 g eel, cut into 2–3 cm chunks. A 20–23 cm pie tin holds the lot.
Line the base with a thin suet pastry about 2 mm thick. Toss the fish pieces with salt, black pepper and a little thyme. A splash of good stock and a knob of butter keep the filling moist; a dash of lemon brightens the eel’s richness.
Method
Fry eel pieces briefly to render fat, then fold through the pike. Pack into the pastry-lined dish, top with a thin lid and crimp. Bake hard at 220°C/425°F for 10–15 minutes, then drop to 180°C/350°F for 20–30 minutes until pastry is deep brown and the filling bubbles.
Simmer parsley, fish stock, a little flour and butter to a glossy liquor; squeeze of lemon finishes it. Spoon the parsley liquor over hot slices at the table. Evening reeds hissing, a spoon steaming under the lantern—this is Norfolk Broads comfort food by the river bank.
Recommended: 3m pike fishing rod