TODAY, March 5, marks the annual celebration of St Piran - Cornwall’s patron saint associated with the popular emblem of the white and black flag.

He is said to have floated to Cornwall from Ireland on a millstone and then to have struck a black boulder with his staff to reveal veins of tin.

So what better way to mark this day of tradition than with a proper Cornish stargazy pie – like the one provided here by Trewithen Dairy?

This iconic Cornish dish is the perfect centrepiece for your dinner table to wow your guests. The fish are designed to ‘gaze at the stars’ but don’t worry - you don’t have to eat the heads.

Legend has it this pie was created after a brave fisherman, Tom Bawcock, ventured out into stormy seas to fish when the townsfolk of Mousehole were facing starvation. He returned triumphantly with an abundance of seven types of fish, which were cooked up in a pie and served to the community. Recipe below.

SERVES 6

Ingredients

50g Dairy Salted Butter

1 Leek, finely chopped

2 Shallots, finely chopped

3 rashers Smoked Bacon

1 tbsp Plain Flour

50ml Dry Cider

250ml Fish Stock

250ml Dairy Whole Milk

2 tbsp Cornish Clotted Cream

Pinch of Saffron

Small bunch of fresh Parsley, chopped

3 Eggs - 2 hard-boiled and chopped, 1 beaten

1 pack of Puff Pastry

6 Mackerel, butterflied with heads left on intact (backbone and tail removed)

Salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180c.

2. Melt the butter in a pan over a low heat, before sweating down the shallots, leek and bacon for approx 10 minutes.

3. Add the flour and cook for a couple of minutes. Slowly pour in the cider and fish stock, while stirring well. Bring to a simmer and allow to cook for 5 minutes until the sauce thickens. Add the milk and the clotted cream and continue to stir until you have a thick sauce.

4. Add the saffron and seasoning. Gently stir through the parsley and hard boiled eggs.

5. Roll out the pastry until it’s about the thickness of a pound coin.

6. Fill a deep pie dish with half the sauce, then arrange the fish carefully over so the heads will poke out of the top. Pour over the remaining sauce.

7. Drape the pastry gently over the pie tin, then cut slits over the top for the fish heads to poke through. Gently ease each head through the slits until it rests securely over the pie tin. Tuck the pastry over the pie tin sides.

8. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg to glaze the top, before popping it into the preheated oven for approx 45 minutes or until the pastry is golden.

Alternatively you could enjoy a cream tea with clotted cream and jam – putting the jam on first of course.