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A period dish

Game Pie

A raised pie of mixed game, bacon, and herbs sealed under a hot-water crust and baked until the pastry is firm.

Serves 8

A game pie was a way to present the mixed bag of a hunt as a single grand dish. The meat was layered with bacon and spice, sealed in a sturdy crust, and often served cold, when the jelly set into a savoury aspic.

Ingredients

Meat & Poultry

  • 8 oz bacon

Pantry / Durable

  • 4 cup flour
  • 1 cup stock

Spices & Seasoning

  • 1 bunch thyme
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Other

  • 2 lb game meat
  • 4 oz lard

Method

  1. Make a hot-water crust by pouring boiling water over lard and flour, kneading to a smooth dough, and pressing it into a mould.

  2. Cut the game and bacon into pieces and toss them with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and chopped thyme.

  3. Pack the meat into the crust, layering it with a little butter, and add a splash of stock or wine.

  4. Top with a pastry lid, seal the edges, and cut a hole in the centre for steam.

  5. Bake in a moderate oven for two hours, then pour a little warm stock through the hole and let the pie cool so the jelly sets.

Adapted from The English Huswife. View a published recipe at BBC Good Food (opens in a new tab)

Served at

The wager at Port-Royal · Paris, France