Battalia pie (obsolete spelling battaglia pye) is an English large game pie, 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 internal organ (anatomy), organs of a butchered animal. Offal may also refer to the by-products of Milling (grinding), milled grains, such as corn or wheat. Some cultures strong ...

, in a

gravy Gravy is a sauce made from the juices of meats and vegetables that run naturally during cooking and often thickened with thickeners for added texture. The gravy may be further coloured and flavoured with gravy salt (a mix of salt and caramel food ...

made from meat stock flavoured with

spice In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

s and

lemon The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

. 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 (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

, 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 principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

, "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

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

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

John Nott Sir John William Frederic Nott (1 February 1932 – 6 November 2024) was a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1981 to 1983 (during the Falklands War). A member of the National Liberal (until 1968) and Conserva ...

'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 ...

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

In her 1727 cookery book '' The Compleat Housewife'', Eliza Smith 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 Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

and author

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a ...

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, Carlisle, Brampton. It is adjacent to the A69 road (England), A69 road from Newcastle upon Tyne to Carlisle, ...

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