Stargazy pie

江苏 彭向梅

体裁：说明文 文章词数：357 建议用时：6分钟

Stargazy pie is a delicious pie filled with hard⁃boiled eggs, potatoes, bacon, mustard⁃flavored custard (蛋奶沙司), and whole sardines (沙丁鱼) that are poking their heads through the pie,appearing to gaze at the stars,hence the name.

The unusual dish was originally prepared to celebrate the heroic fishermen's catches during the cold,stormy win⁃ters. The whole fish were baked into a pie and many be⁃lieve that it saved the Mousehole village of Cornwall from starvation. Although the arrangement of the fish seems highly strange,there's actually a good reason for their placement—the need to preserve as much of the essential oil as possible. Therefore, the fish are arranged so and their oil runs back into the filling(馅)as they are cooked.

There are fish heads and tails poking out of the pie, giving the image that fish are swimming through it.Eating a pie full of fish heads is not to everyone's taste,but it's a very special tradition for this little village in Britain.It can be traced back to one small fish⁃ing community in the 1500s.

In the past,each storm season was a threat to the entire region as people in the village would starve without the fresh catch. That was one December in the 16th century. An old fisherman named Tom Bawcock decided to find food for villagers and took his boat out.The villagers noticed his boat was gone, and they lit lanterns and candles to guide him back to safety. Luckily, Bawcock was successful with strong determination. He caught a full boat⁃load of seven types of fish. People welcomed him back and baked his entire catch into a massive fish pie. The fish heads and tails were arranged to poke out of the top of the pie to prove that there was indeed fish in it. Ever since that day, the local people celebrate Tom Bawcock's Eve on December 23 with stargazy pie.

You'll find variations of stargazy pie across England, but you are recommended to eat the authentic (真正的) dish in Mousehole on December 23 at the Ship Inn. That's where the tradition began.

Reading Check

1.How does stargazy pie get the name?

A.It is related to the hero in the winter.

B.It is related to the unusual filling.

C.It is related to the look of the pie.

D.It is related to the stars.

2.The purpose of the arrangement of the fish is to .

A.preserve the oil used for the pie

B.ensure the shape of the fish

C.change the filling of the pie

D.prove the tradition of England

3.What's the main idea of paragraph 4?

A.An old fisherman made the fish pie with determination.

B.An old fisherman found food for villagers through the storm.

C.Villagers saved an old fisherman with lanterns and candles lit.

D.Villagers welcomed an old fisherman with fish heads and tails.

4.Where is the text probably from?

A.A travel guide. B.A food culture website.

C.A story book. D.A magazine about famous people.

Language Study

Sentence for writing

Eating a pie full of fish heads is not to everyone's taste.吃一个满是鱼头的派不见得符合每个人的口味。

【信息提取】to one's taste意为“合某人的口味”。

【句式仿写】所以，人们可以根据自己对颜色、形状和设计的喜好来购买它们。

Cultural Background

仰望星空派

仰望星空派是沙丁鱼和酥皮派的神奇结合。一条条沙丁鱼被插在酥皮派里，露出鱼头，像是鱼儿在仰望着星空。故事发生在英国康沃尔郡的毛斯尔（Mousehole）的一个小渔村。有一年，风暴阻挠了渔民出海捕鱼，也摧毁了菜园。村里没有任何东西可吃了，老汤姆决意出海捕鱼。大家以为老汤姆遭遇了不幸，然而他凭借着坚强的意志，顺利返航，并带回了整整一船的鱼。那一晚，毛斯尔灯火通明，人们用老汤姆捕获的鱼做了各式各样的美味料理，包括仰望星空派。