Battalia pie (obsolete spelling battaglia pye) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

large

game pie Game pie is a form of meat pie featuring game. The dish dates from Roman times when the main ingredients were wild birds and animals such as partridge, pheasant, deer, and hare. The pies reached their most elaborate form in Victorian England, wit ...

, or occasionally a fish pie, filled with many small "blessed" pieces, ''beatilles'', of

offal Offal (), also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the organs of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but usually excludes muscle. Offal may also refe ...

, in a

gravy Gravy is a sauce often made from the juices of meats that run naturally during cooking and often thickened with wheat flour or corn starch for added texture. The gravy may be further coloured and flavoured with gravy salt (a simple mix of salt ...

made from meat stock flavoured with

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spice ...

s and

lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

. The dish was described in cookery books of the 17th and 18th centuries. Confusion with words for battle led to the pie being

crenellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

, or shaped to resemble a castle with towers.

Etymology

A battalia pie was so named because it was filled with ''beatilles'', small blessed objects (from Latin ''beatus'', blessed) such as, according to the

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...

, "Cocks-combs, Goose-gibbets, Ghizzards, Livers, and other Appurtenances of Fowls (1706)". It is not connected with Italian ''battaglia'', battle, but it was regularly confused with that meaning, and battalia pies were built with crenellated battlements around the edges, and sometimes as castles complete with towers.

Recipe

The 1658 cookery book ''The Compleat Cook'' by "W. M." gives an early recipe for battalia pie: In his 1660 cookery book ''

The Accomplisht Cook ''The Accomplisht Cook'' is an English cookery book published by the professional cook Robert May in 1660, and the first to group recipes logically into 24 sections. It was much the largest cookery book in England up to that time, providing nu ...

'', Robert May gives a recipe "To make a Bisk or Batalia Pie", which instructs:

John Nott Sir John William Frederic Nott (born 1 February 1932) is a former British Conservative Party politician. He was a senior politician of the late 1970s and early 1980s, playing a prominent role as Secretary of State for Defence during the 1982 in ...

's 1723 ''

The Cooks and Confectioners Dictionary ''The Cooks and Confectioners Dictionary: or, the Accomplish'd Housewives Companion'' was a cookery book written by John Nott and first published in London in 1723. Context Nott had been the chief cook for a string of aristocrats, named on the t ...

'' gives a recipe for battalia pie with fish: Compleat Housewife - A Battalia Pye

In her 1727 cookery book ''

The Compleat Housewife ''The Compleat Housewife; or, Accomplish'd Gentlewoman's Companion'' is a cookery book written by Eliza Smith and first published in London in 1727. It became extremely popular, running through 18 editions in fifty years. It was the first co ...

'',

Eliza Smith Eliza Smith (died 1732?) was one of the most popular female 18th-century cookery book writers. Unlike other popular woman cookbook authors whose books overlapped with hers, such as Hannah Glasse Hannah Glasse (; March 1708 – 1 September ...

describes battalia pie as follows: Smith's recipe was republished in Michael Willis's 1831 ''Cookery Made Easy'', and in Anne Walbank Buckland's 1893 book, ''Our Viands: Whence they Come and How they are Cooked''.

In literature

Former

prime minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...

and author Benjamin Disraeli describes an English dinner of the previous century in his 1837 novel '' Venetia'', with

Recreations

Battalia pies were recreated at

Naworth Castle Naworth Castle, also known or recorded in historical documents as "Naward", is a castle in Cumbria, England, near the town of Brampton. It is adjacent to the A69, about east of Brampton. It is on the opposite side of the River Irthing to, and ...

in 2006 and at Westport House, Ireland in 2015.

Notes

References

External links

Historic Food 2005-6
A gilded battalia pie stands in the centre of a loaded table at Naworth Castle. {{English cuisine English cuisine