3 pigeons, cut in halves or quarters
1 onion, chopped
1 small piece cinnamon
1 bay leaf
2 cloves
1 tbsp wine
salt and pepper
2 potatoes, peeled and cut in quarters
6 Chinese dried mushrooms
1 tsp lard
2 hard-boiled eggs, cut in half lengthwise

Fry the onion in hot lard, add the pigeons and fry well. Put about 2 cups water, then the cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf, salt and pepper, and simmer till tender. Put aside till quite cold.

Prepare ½ lb | 220g of puff pastry on the eve. Roll out a piece ¼” thick. Invert a round pyrex dish on it and cut a circle of pastry about 1″ larger than the top of the dish. Roll out the remainder of the pastry to a thickness of ½”- ¾” | 1.3-1.5 cm and cut in strips 1″ | 2.5 cm wide. Put the pastry in a cool place.

Fill the pie dish with the meat mixture. Array the eggs neatly with the yolks downward. The gravy should fill only about ¾ of the dish.

Wet the border of the pie dish and lay the round piece of pastry carefully over and press down evenly on the dish border. Brush a 1″-wide circle around the border with water and attach neatly all around the strips which had been cut previously. Cut a small round hole in the centre of the pie to allow steam to escape.

Brush the surface of the pie with a beaten egg, leave in a cool place for 1 hour.