Rumour had it, that the Devil would never dare to cross the River Tamar into Cornwall for fear of ending up as a filling in a Cornish Pasty. For centuries the Cornish have been filling their famous pasties with almost any ingredients that you can imagine. The traditional filling is, of course, beef and potato, usually with slices of onion and swede (rutabaga) mixed in as well, but the humble pasty can also be found in a number of other guises.

Popular fillings down the years have included Egg and Bacon, Rabbit, Apples, Figs, Jam, and Egg and Currants. There is virtually no limit to what tasty filling you might find when you take a first bite into that delicious crunchy pastry!

However, in a region where the sea plays such an important role in everyday life, fish has never been regarded as an appropriate pasty filling. In fact, some superstitious Cornish fishermen will refuse to take a pasty on board their boat when they set out to sea, in the belief that it will bring them bad luck.

Some say the pasty originally evolved to meet the needs of tin mining, that other great, but now sadly declined Cornish industry. A hearty meal wrapped in a pastry casing made a very practical lunch (or "croust" , as they used to call it ) down in the dark and damp tunnels of the mine. Some mines even built huge ovens on the surface to keep the miner's pasties hot until it was time to eat.

Others say that it was first given to the farmers to take for a good lunch. One end would hold the meat filling & the other half jam. This gave two courses in one!

Cornish housewives also marked their husband's initials on the left-hand side of the pastry casing, in order to avoid confusion at lunchtime. This was particularly useful when a miner wished to save a 'corner' of his pasty until later.

Today there is still a great deal of debate among pasty-makers about exactly how a genuine pasty should be made. Many will tell you that a pasty can only be made with short pastry, while others will advocate rough puff as the ideal pastry. Some will claim that the ingredients must be mixed up inside the pastry, while others will swear that the fillings should be laid out in a particular order before the pasty is sealed.

The issue that invites the most controversy involves the famous 'crimp', the wavy seam that holds the whole pasty together. Should the pasty be sealed across the top, or at the side? History suggests that the crimp should be formed at the side, because the pasty has always been eaten by hand, and the side crimp is the most convenient way of holding onto your lunch while you take a big bite. Others may beg to differ!

There are, fortunately, some facts that can be agreed upon by all pasty-makers. The meat should be chopped, the vegetables should always be sliced, and the ingredients must never be cooked before they are wrapped in the pastry. Each pasty must be baked completely from raw. It is this fact that makes the Cornish Pasty unique amongst similar foods from around the world.

Nobody knows for certain the true origins of the pasty, although it can be traced at least as far back as the middle ages. It is believed that Henry VIII's Queen, Jane Seymour, enjoyed a tasty pasty on several occasions.

Over the years the pasty has spread across the country and around the world. Variations can be found in counties such as Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cumberland, although it has been suggested that Cornish miners introduced the pasty to these places when they left Cornwall and moved up-country in search of work.

Cornish emigrants also introduced the pasty onto the American continent. They are popular in parts of the United States, as well as in Argentina and Mexico.

Depending on where you go, pasties come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Until recently, a group of Young Farmers in Cornwall held the record for making the largest pasty known to man. The pasty, which was baked in 1985, took seven hours to make, and measured over 32 feet in length! Amazingly, their record was believed to be beaten in May 1999, when bakers in Falmouth made their own giant pasty during the town's first ever Pasty Festival.

The pasty is, and always shall be associated with Cornwall. It holds a special place in Cornish culture and in the hearts of the Cornish people. For many people the pasty is the greatest symbol of Cornwall. When the Cornish Rugby team plays an important match, a giant Cornish pasty is symbolically hoisted over the bar before the start of the game. It is a tradition that dates back to 1908, and the original giant pasty is still used to this day.

While many inhabitants of Cornwall still like to bake their own, the pasty has risen to become big business in shops and supermarkets throughout the country. Nowadays, you can even dial-a-pasty straight to your door!

Any Cornish man or woman will tell you however, that a true Cornish pasty can only be home baked in the traditional way, and you will only experience the mouth-watering taste of a true Cornish pasty if you pay a visit to the county where it was created.

Fowey Pasty Muncher
by

Cornish

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Ingredients

For the Pastry (This is for Shortcrust)

One and a half Cups Plain Flour
Lard or vegetable fat
Pinch of salt
Water

For the pasty filling

Chuck steak or skirt
Two Large potatoes
Half a large swede (Rutabaga)
One large onion
Salt and pepper to taste
Water

Cornwall Pastie Recipe Method

The Pastry
Place flour and salt in a bowl, rub in the fat, until the mixture is so fine that it falls through the fingers. Tip mixture onto a lightly floured table top. With your index finger make a well in the centre of the mixture. Add water a little at a time until it forms a pliable but stiff dough.

The Cornish Pasty Filling
Finely chop the steak. Dice the potato, swede and onion. You may prefer to slice them. Add seasoning. Mix all in a bowl or to be really authentic use your kitchen table top.
Using a floured table top roll out half the dough to a circle the size of a plate. Make a mound of the filling in the centre of the dough. Dampen round the edge of the dough with either water, or milk. Fold over the dough, to make a half moon shape, crimping the edges. Make a slit to let out steam. Brush with beaten egg to glaze.
Cooking your Cornish Pasty Place on lightly greased metal baking tray in the middle of a preheated oven, for around 40 minutes at 450 F . The pasty is cooked when their undersides turn brown and crisp.

Cookes Apron
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jurgen9

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Cornish Pasty Pie

I find Cornish pasties often have too much pastry and not enough filling. However, the traditional filling of steak, potato and turnip is so delicious I now make one big pie using this filling - which is also a lot quicker than making individual pasties.

Serves 6
Ingredients
For the pastry:

12 oz (350 g) plain flour
6 oz (175 g) lard
beaten egg, to glaze
salt and freshly milled pepper
For the filling:
1¼ lb (575 g) chuck steak
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 level teaspoon dried mixed herbs
1 medium to large potato
1 medium to large turnip
salt and freshly milled pepper

To glaze:
beaten egg
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6, 400°F (200°C).
You will also need a well-greased baking sheet or a well-greased 10 inch (25.5 cm) fluted metal quiche tin.

Make the pastry first: sift the flour, salt and pepper into a large mixing bowl, holding the sieve up as high as possible to give the flour an airing. Then cut the lard into small cubes and add to the flour. Now, using your fingertips, lightly and gently rub the pieces of fat into the flour - lifting your hands up high as you do this (again to incorporate air) and being as quick as possible.
When the mixture looks uniformly crumbly, start to sprinkle roughly 2-3 tablespoons of cold water all over. Use a round-bladed knife to start the mixing, cutting and bringing the mixture together. Carefully add more water if needed, a little at a time, then finally bring the mixture together with your hands to form a smooth ball of dough that will leave the bowl clean (if there are any bits that won't adhere to it, you need a spot more water). Now rest the pastry, wrapped in foil or polythene, in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes before rolling out.

Meanwhile, slice the meat into very thin strips about 2 inches (5 cm) long (it's important to keep them very thin in order that they cook in the time given). Place the meat in a mixing bowl, with the chopped onion and mixed herbs. Then peel the potato and turnip and slice these as thinly as possible too (the slicing edge of a four-sided grater does this thin slicing job in moments).

Now, if you are using a quiche tin, roll out half the pastry, large enough to line the tin with about ½ inch (1 cm) overlapping. Then layer the filling ingredients in it (in any order). Season well with salt and pepper and a sprinkling of herbs as you go, and finally sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of water. Roll out the other half of the pastry, dampen the edge all round, then fit it over the top of the pie. Then seal the edges, folding them inwards and pressing gently to make a rim just inside the edge of the tin. Make a steam hole in the centre (about the size of a 10p piece), brush the surface with beaten egg, and bake the pie on a baking sheet, on a high shelf, for 15 minutes. Then turn the heat down to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C), and continue to cook on the centre shelf for a further 1½ hours.
Instead of using a quiche tin, you could simply roll out two 11 inch (28 cm) diameter rounds of pastry and place one on the baking sheet. Layer the ingredients (as above) on it but leave 1 inch (2.5 cm) all round the edge. Now place the other pastry round on top and seal the edge by turning the bottom piece inwards all the way round, then make deep diagonal cuts with the edge of a teaspoon handle all the way round the edge. Then proceed as above.

Serve this hot or alternatively, as it is still delicious eaten cold, take it on a picnic.

This recipe is taken from Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course and Delia Smith's Complete Illustrated Cookery Course.

Pasty Munchers Mug.
by

Cornish

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Lynn's Cornish Pasty

Ingredients:

To make 4 medium to large pasties:

for the pastry:

10 oz/275g/2 cups plain flour (I use a mixture of 3 oz white & 7 oz wholewheat/wholemeal)

5 oz/130g/ 3/4 cup hard margarine (I grate it - it's easier to rub in!)

pinch salt

water to mix

for the filling:

1 tablespoon oil or margarine

1 onion, roughly chopped

1 small Swede chopped (about 1/2inch dice)

4 medium/large carrots chopped as above

1 medium/large potato chopped as above

1 tsp yeast extract

black pepper to taste

Pastry: Mix flours and salt together. Rub in grated marg until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Add cold water a tablespoon at a time until the mixture holds together and a firm dough is formed. Knead lightly. Put in fridge

Filling: Melt the margarine or heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the vegetables and stir well. Put lid on saucepan and cook, on a low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until vegetables are nearly cooked. Stir in yeast extract and add black pepper, and allow the mixture to cool. Remove pastry from fridge and cut into four equal pieces. Roll out each piece roughly into a circle of about 7 inch (this is very roughly - I never actually measure it!). Place 1/4 of the veg mix along the centre of each circle and wet edges, bring them together above the veg mix and seal and 'crimp'. Brush with soya milk and cook (in a preheated oven!) at 180C/375F on the middle shelf for about 40-45 minutes.

These are good hot or cold, and I sometimes add herbs to the mixture (fresh or dried whatever I have to hand) just for a change! Hope you enjoy them as much as my children have over the year

Where is Cornwall?

Cornwall is the most South Westerley County in England. When looking at a map of Great Britain, to me, it's like looking at the foot on the bottom right :)

Anything or anyone from Cornwall, is referred to as 'Cornish'

Anything Else from Cornwall?

Cornwall is also famous for it's Pixies. What's a Pixie? A Pixie is a mythical creature, a bit like a fairie, Elf or Goblin. According to local folk lore, they can bring you good luck and everyone needs some good luck.

Cornish cream teas... ooooooowwww you can't beat 'em :) This usually comprises of a freshly baked scone, Cornish Clotted Cream & Strawberry Jam served with a pot of Tea. Or, for me, as I'm apparently the only English person not to like tea, I always ask for coffee ;)

pasty, Oggie
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Cornish

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