A French savoury pie-crust is made in this way : —
Empty a pound of flour into a bowl, and rub lightly into
it half a pound of clarified suet ; add a tea-spoonful of
salt, and complete the dough by adding to it by degrees a
quarter of a pint of water in which two eggs have been
beaten✪ French Savoury Pie-Crust. Roll the paste out, give it two or three turns,
and finish it as in the foregoing receipt.
A plainer crust can be made by reducing the suet, and a
richer and more volatile one by adding a couple of ounces
or so of iced butter.
Raised pie-crust, or number three, is perhaps less
understood by Ramasamy than the other kinds that 1 have
PASTRY-MAKING, ET CETERA. 267
mentioned. It is a thing that people rarely attempt in
this country under an impression, I fancy, that it is too
difficult for the Indian chef. Yet, as a matter-of-fact,
nothing can be more simple. Pies of this kind are inex-
pensive, and whether for breakfast, the luncheon table, or
the pic-nic basket, cannot be too highly commended. To
be certain of success it is advisable to procure a raised pie-
tin, which shoidd have movable sides secured by a pin at
either end so that the pie may be easily released when
baked. A locally made tin of the following size will, in
the absence of a proper utensil, be found useful : — Oval
in shape, six inches and a half long and five inches across
(top measurement), five and a half inches long, and four
inches across (bottom measurement) : a movable bottom
to fit the latter : depth of tin three and a half inches. The
bazar tin-man will turn you out one of these tins in a few
hours for a trifling sum. Made in a mould of this shape,
the pie is, of course, larger at the top than at the bottom,
with sloping sides. Having procured a tin, you should
make the following short " pork-pie crust" to fit it : —
Put half a pint of water into a sauce-pan, and let it boil ;
when boiling, stir into it a quarter of a pound of clarified
suet, and one ounce of fresh butter with a tea-spoonful of
salt. Stir till the fat has melted, and then pour the con-
tents of the sauce-pan, boiling hot, into a bowl containing
a pound and a half of well-dried flour✪ Pork-Pie Crust. Work the mixture
to a stiff paste adding a little water, if necessary, and turn
it out upon a cold pastry slab ; roll it out three-quarters
of cin inch thick, as evenly and level as possible, and let
it get quite cold. Now, butter the tin, and cut an oval
piece of paste a little larger than the bottom of it so that
the edges may turn up, and be more readily fixed to the
wall, or side-paste ; next cut out a strip three and a half
inches wide, and sufficiently long to go round the inside
of the wall of the tin ; fix the bottom of the wall to the
268 CULINARY JOTTINGS FOR MADRAS.
oval piece at the bottom -with white of Qgg^ pinching them
closely together ; then fill the pie with whatever meat
you have prepared, covering it over with an oval cap, cnt
like the bottom piece, cementing it with white of Qggi and
pinching it tightly to the top of the wall : brush the pie
over with white of egg and bake it in a slow oven. Little
pies require a slightly faster oven than large ones, but all
raised pies should be slowly baked.
This receipt for raised pie-crust is a Leicestershire one,
and will be found similar to that used for pork-pies in that
county.
Page 151 · 3 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1885. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
A French savoury pie-crust is made in this way : — Empty a pound of flour into a bowl, and rub lightly into it half a pound of clarified suet ; add a tea-spoonful of salt, and complete the dough by adding to it by degrees a quarter of a pint of water in which two eggs have been beaten. Roll the paste out, give it two or three turns, and finish it as in the foregoing receipt.
A plainer crust can be made by reducing the suet, and a richer and more volatile one by adding a couple of ounces or so of iced butter.
Raised pie-crust, or number three, is perhaps less understood by Ramasamy than the other kinds that 1 have
mentioned. It is a thing that people rarely attempt in this country under an impression, I fancy, that it is too difficult for the Indian chef. Yet, as a matter-of-fact, nothing can be more simple. Pies of this kind are inexpensive, and whether for breakfast, the luncheon table, or the pic-nic basket, cannot be too highly commended. To be certain of success it is advisable to procure a raised pietin, which should have movable sides secured by a pin at either end so that the pie may be easily released when baked. A locally made tin of the following size will, in the absence of a proper utensil, be found useful : — Oval in shape, six inches and a half long and five inches across (top measurement), five and a half inches long, and four inches across (bottom measurement) : a movable bottom to fit the latter : depth of tin three and a half inches. The bazar tin-man will turn you out one of these tins in a few hours for a trifling sum. Made in a mould of this shape, the pie is, of course, larger at the top than at the bottom, with sloping sides. Having procured a tin, you should make the following short " pork-pie crust" to fit it : —
Put half a pint of water into a sauce-pan, and let it boil ; when boiling, stir into it a quarter of a pound of clarified suet, and one ounce of fresh butter with a tea-spoonful of salt. Stir till the fat has melted, and then pour the contents of the sauce-pan, boiling hot, into a bowl containing a pound and a half of well-dried flour. Work the mixture to a stiff paste adding a little water, if necessary, and turn it out upon a cold pastry slab ; roll it out three-quarters of an inch thick, as evenly and level as possible, and let it get quite cold. Now, butter the tin, and cut an oval piece of paste a little larger than the bottom of it so that the edges may turn up, and be more readily fixed to the wall, or side-paste ; next cut out a strip three and a half inches wide, and sufficiently long to go round the inside of the wall of the tin ; fix the bottom of the wall to the
oval piece at the bottom -with white of Qgg^ pinching them closely together ; then fill the pie with whatever meat you have prepared, covering it over with an oval cap, cnt like the bottom piece,cementing it with white of egg and pinching it tightlyy to the top of the wall : brush the pie over with white of egg and bake it in a slow oven. Little pies require a slightly faster oven than large ones, but all raised pies should be slowly baked.
This receipt for raised pie-crust is a Leicestershire one, and will be found similar to that used for pork-pies in that county.
Records on this page
French Savoury Pie-CrustMutton PiePork-Pie Crust