I have never made or eaten one,  but I’ve read of stargazy pies, and thought it should be included in this weekly fish series. I might give one a go sometime, and perhaps I should go to the village of Mousehole in Cornwall to experience the genuine thing.     Stargazy pie (also starrey gazey pie) is a Cornish dish made of baked pilchards, along with eggs and potatoes, covered with a  pastry crust.   Although there are a few variations with different fish being used, the unique feature of stargazy pie is fish heads (and sometimes tails) protruding through the crust, so that they appear to be gazing skyward. This allows the oils released during cooking to flow back into the pie.

The dish is traditionally eaten during the festival of Tom Bawcock’s Eve to celebrate his heroic catch during a very stormy winter. According to the modern festival, which is combined with the Mousehole village illuminations, the entire catch was baked into a huge stargazy pie, encompassing seven types of fish and saving the village from starvation. There is evidence that the festival dates back even further, to pre-Christian times.

Wikipedia was the source of this information and there’s much more there, including a recipe if you’re interested in this very British pie.