The Epicure's Almanac or Diary of Good Living
April 16th : PIGEON PIE
Place at the bottom of a dish a rump-steak well flattened and cut to the size, sprinkle a salt-spoonful of mixed salt and Cayenne over the steak. Stuff half a dozen pigeons with bread crumbs well mixed with sweet herbs and egg; rub the birds over with fresh butter, and place them on the meat, filling up the spaces with the yolks of eggs boiled hard; when this is done pour in veal stock till you nearly reach the brim; put on the top crust, and bake in a slow oven for a n hour and a half. Before sending to table make a small hole in the crust, and pour in some richly seasoned gravy, boiling hot.
It is usual to distinguish a pigeon pie, by placing a pair of claws in the centre of the top paste. In imitation of their betters, the Irish cotters, when they make a pie of herrings and potatoes, stick the head of one of the fish upon the top; and as it is generally placed quite perpendicular, poor Pat dignifies his fare by the high sounding title of “a Star-gazing Pie !”