The Cornish Pasty
Pasty Past
There is still a great deal of debate as to the true origins of the pasty, but there is little doubt that the pasty has a long and famous Cornish history.
Early references to pasties include a letter from a baker to Henry's VIII's third wife, Jane Seymour, that states "hope this pasty reaches in better condition than the last one...", as well as quotes in some of Shakespeare's plays, including All's Well That Ends Well: Act IV Scene III - PAROLLES: "I will confess to what I know without constraint: if ye pinch me like a pasty, I can say no more".
The pasty's best known association stems from the 1800s when it evolved to meet the needs of the Cornish tin miners. The pasty was a complete, hand-held hot meal, usually consisting of meat, potato, onion and swede in a pastry casing. Mines often built large ovens on the surface to keep the pasties warm until it was time to eat. The shout 'Oggie, Oggie, Oggie' is said to originate from Cornish miners calling for their pasties (also known as oggies or tiddy oggies). The thick crimped edges were originally for holding the pasty whilst eating, to avoid being poisoned by the arsenic sometimes found on their fingers. This crimping was then left for the mischievous 'Knockers' (ghosts) which were said to exist down the mines.
It is often said that it was the miners emigrating from Cornwall after the collapse of the tin mining industry which led to the pasty's national and international spread. Variations of the pasty can be found throughout the UK and the world. It is particularly popular in parts of the United States, Mexico, Argentina and Australia.
However, any Cornish man or woman will tell you a true Cornish pasty can only be made and baked the traditional way in Cornwall. The pasty holds a special place in Cornish hearts and in Cornish culture. For many the pasty is the greatest symbol of Cornwall.
Pasty Facts
- It was said 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
- The pasty was sometimes divided inside into two sections so as to provide both a main course and dessert
- A good pasty was thought to be strong enough to drop unharmed down a mine shaft
- Fishermen never took a pasty aboard ship for fear of bad luck
New Record For World's Largest Cornish Pasty
September 6, 2010
The UK 's leading handmade Cornish pasty manufacturer, Proper Cornish Food Company, has set a new world record for the heaviest handmade Cornish pasty.
The pasty, which is over 4 metres long, 1.4 metres wide and weighs almost 1 tonne, was made at Proper Cornish's factory in Bodmin, Cornwall.
Proper Cornish and another local food producer went head-to-head to make the largest Cornish pasty in 24 hours.
Proper Cornish were crowned champions of the cook-off by five local judges, not only were the team awarded with an oversized golden spoon trophy, they also set the new world record.
Talking about the record breaking pasty, Phil Ugalde, Chairman of Proper Cornish Food Company, said:
"This is a great result! Proper Cornish is a very proud Cornish company, producing quality Cornish food, and to produce the largest ever handmade Cornish pasty in the world is testament to the dedication and hard work of all the team.
We made it to our traditional Cornish recipe, which included 165kg of skirt beef, 352kg of potatoes, 106kg of swede, 96kg of onion and 381kg of pastry - all the ingredients came from our local Cornish farmers. We even had to build a new oven to cook it and delivering it to Fowey involved a JCB, a forklift, a lorry and a lot of manpower."
For more information about Proper Cornish Food Company click HERE to visit their website.
Cornish Pasty Name Given European Protected Status
February 22, 2011
The term "Cornish pasty" has been given protected status by the European Commission.
It means that only pasties made in Cornwall from a traditional recipe can now be called "Cornish pasties", the Cornish Pasty Association (CPA) said.
The Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status means "genuine" Cornish pasties will now be stamped with a special logo.
The CPA said it wanted to protect the "quality and reputation" of the pasty.
It said "authentic" Cornish pasties could still be baked elsewhere in the country but they would need to be prepared in Cornwall.
David Rodda, from the Cornwall Development Company, said: "By protecting our regional food heritage, we are protecting local jobs.
"Thousands of people in Cornwall are involved in the pasty industry, from farmers to producers, and it's important that the product's quality is protected for future generations."
Alan Adler, chairman of the CPA, said: "We are helping to protect our British food legacy.
"We lag far behind other European countries like France and Italy, that have hundreds of food products protected, and it's important that we value our foods just as much."
South West Liberal Democrat MEP Graham Watson, who took a batch of pasties to Brussels last year to back-up the PGI application, said the decision meant the recipe would now be "secured".
'Chunky filling'
The protected status means the pasty now has the same standing as Roquefort cheese, French Champagne and Jersey royal potatoes.
Other items from Cornwall already on the protected list include Cornish clotted cream and the Cornish sardine.
A European Commission spokeswoman said it had a "wealth" of schemes to protect regional foods.
She said PGI applications were submitted by governments on behalf of food manufacturers and considered by other European member states.
After six months, if no objections are raised, food items automatically receive protected status.
The CPA, which had to come up with the "genuine" Cornish pasty recipe as part of its PGI application, said an authentic pasty should have a distinctive 'D' shape and be crimped on one side, never on top.
It said the filling should be "chunky, made up of uncooked mince or chunks of beef with swede, potato and onion and a light seasoning" and that the pasty should be slow-baked.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-12535751
Submitted by Member: Shirley Gilbert O'Brien
New Jersey's Cornish Pasty Makers Have Forged Their Own Traditions
Tom Rodkewitz, owner of Rocky's Pasties, is seen with a tray of pasties on the production floor at Rocky's Pasties in Wharton.
Photo: Jerry McCrea/The Star-Ledger
By Felipe Cabrera/The Star-Ledger/July 26, 2011
The people of England's County Cornwall were miners and when they ended up at mines around the world, they brought their "pasties" with them.
A Cornish pasty (prounounced PAS-tee) is a meat-and-vegetable filled pastry whose principal ingredients are potatoes, onions, turnips, and beef.
Iron mines brought the Cornish to Morris County. In Wharton of the 1920s, customers of Rocky's Food Store started asking for the savories.
In 1924, the Rodkewitzes, the family that still owns Rocky's, obliged and offered the baked goods for the first time. They were a hit.
Yesterday, the executive body of the European Union deemed that to be called Cornish pasties, the food product must be made in County Cornwall, on the southwestern tip of the United Kingdom. Not in New Jersey. Pasties must be shaped like a capital "D" and crimped on one side, "never on top," according to the Cornish Pasty Association's website.
But Garden State pasty makers should be in the clear, said Lou Bird, a Wharton resident who serves as president of the Cornish Historical Society East.
"That's mainly a European nose-out-of-joint phenomenon," said Bird. "I've never heard of anyone snooping over in America."
Bird can still recall sipping on 10-cent Coca-Colas, listening to Nat King Cole records and munching on pasties in the back of Rocky's Food Store as a teenager.
Bird is 77 now, yet Rocky's survives.
For owner Tom Rodkewitz, pasty-making is a family business that reaches back to his Ukrainian and Polish grandparents, Anna and Andrew Rodkewitz.
Since 1987, Rodkewitz has sold pasties under United States Department of Agriculture regulations. Rodkewitz said the USDA requires him to label his wholestale pasties as "Cornish style pasties."
"It's hard to find a handmade authentic product that rivals [what's available] in England," said Rodkewitz, 55. "We respect the authenticity of that recipe."
Pasties come with various fillings. Rocky's makes sausage and chicken pasties along with the traditional beef.
An old-style version of today's "Hot Pockets," pasties were common fare in the copper mines of Cornwall and the iron mines of western Morris County.
Kept warm with body heat or warmed up by candle lamps - accounts differ - pasties were sustenance for the working man in those days. Miners gripped the pasties by their crimped edges, ate the crust and meaty filling, and then disposed of the edges to avoid contamination from dirty hands.
Along the Delaware in Hunterdon County, the British style brew-pub Ship Inn may consider calling the pasty by another name. "We'll probably go back to calling it a 'tiddy oggy,'" said chef Lonnie Lippert, 55. "Tiddy oggy" refers to a pasty recipe popularized by the Royal Navy, Lippert said. "We've been doing them for 20 years. It's the same recipe."
Some New Jersey churches also fund-raise by selling the delicacies.
Except in July and August, parish members from Wharton United Presbyterian make 500-600 pasties a month for bake sales.
"When I make them for my own family, I make them the way my grandmother did, with a little piece of salt pork in them," said parish member Kathleen Cole.
"Wherever the Cornish have landed in the world, you'll find colonies of children who grew up with pasties," said Bird.
While the mines may be gone, the tradition continues.
"This is pasty country," said Rodkewitz.