Irish Pie

No. 32 Irish Pie
16 1/2 lbs. Meat
4 lbs. flour
1 lb. suet
2 lbs black pudding
2 lbs onions
4 lbs potatoes
Cut the meat from the bone into slices lengthways, and slanting against the grain, beat it well, cut the fat into pieces of about one inch in thickness, cut the puddings, onions, and potatoes into slices, place a layer of meat in the bottom of the dish, season with pepper and salt, then a layer of pudding and onion, another of meat seasoned, another of pudding and onion, until all is used, then add the slices of potatoes, and 12 Ibs. of water. Make some paste with the flour as follows : Chop up the suet or fat from the meat very fine, and roll it. Place 3 Ibs. of flour on the table, make a hole in the middle, throw in a little salt, and if the flour is good, a pint of water, mix it lightly; when well mixed, and it forms a smooth paste, sprinkle some flour on the table, roll out the paste half an inch thick, sprinkle some flour over the paste, take one-third of the suet, and distribute it over the paste, turn the paste over in two folds, throw some more flour over the table, and roll the paste out half-an-inch thick, throw some more flour over the paste, fold and roll again, and repeat this once more; now add one-third of the suet as before, fold and roll again three times ; then add the remainder of the suet, fold and roll again three times; it will thus have been folded and rolled nine times, and all the suet and flour will have been used, it should then be left in a cold place for ten minutes, then rolled out, and the pie covered.
This way of making paste is good for all kinds of paste, either made of butter, lard, or dripping, intended to be baked; the only care must be, in the first instance, when the water is mixed with the flour, the paste must be of the same hardness as the butter, &c. One pound of paste made in this manner is equal to two pounds made in any other way. The pie should not be made longer than half-an-hour before it is placed in the oven, and the oven must not be too hot, if so it is better to cover the pie with paper. The pie should first be placed in a hot part of' the oven, to prevent ihe fat becoming greasy and melting; then after about five minutes, placed in a cooler part to cook more slowly. In all meat pies a hole should be made in the paste to allow the unwholesome gas generated by the confined meat cooking to escape.

Instructions to Military cooks in the Preparation of Dinners at the Instructional kitchen Aldershot, War Office, 1878. p.37..