Historical recipe: Devonshire squab pie

Published: December 16, 2022 at 9:15 AM

Difficulty 3/10

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 1 hr

In every issue of BBC History Magazine, picture editor Sam Nott brings you a recipe from the past. In this article, we share a traditional pie from south-west England...

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This traditional pie from the south-west of England takes its name from the young pigeon that would originally have been used as filling. However, the version we’ve plumped for here – lamb and apples – is known to have been used as one of the many alternatives from at least the middle of the 18th century onward.

Ingredients

450g cubed lamb
150ml lamb stock
one onion, sliced
one red apple, thinly sliced
eight ready-to-eat prunes
350g ready-to-roll short-crust pastry
one egg, beaten
half a teaspoon each of ground cinnamon and ground mace
a pinch of ground nutmeg
2 tsp of cornflour
2 tsp of light brown sugar
salt and pepper

Method

step 1

Mix the lamb with the spices, salt and pepper, and cornflour.
step 2

In an ovenproof pie dish, layer the lamb with the apple and onions, pop in the prunes and add the sugar and stock.
step 3

Roll out the pastry and use to top the pie, crimping the edges.
step 4

Brush with the beaten egg and bake for an hour at 170°C until golden brown.

Discover more historical recipes, including:

Recipe by Taste Buds magazine: bit.ly/3jFd3oe

This recipe was first published in the December 2o20 issue of BBC History Magazine

Historical recipe: Devonshire squab pie

Ingredients

Method

step 1

step 2

step 3

step 4