Sunday 4 March 2012

Cornish Pasty – World Championships at the Eden Project



A cold day in Summer back in the years when the weather was damper, more predictable with seasons following regular patterns – Autumn mists and fog, Winter wet, cold, periods of ice and snow, Spring usually took its time coming, then the glories of a British Summer – if we were lucky!

I remember Cornish pasties on the beach being the saving grace of Cornwall on those cold days ... or when we went with family and friends to the Minack Theatre on the cliffs overlooking the glassy sea, hearing the waves lap below.

Our marrow bones would soon start to feel the sea wind chill, our ‘silly bottoms’ would get the full clout from the earth below – those were the days of a hewn-out theatre ... no flat seats ... just rocks protruding arena like – where we laid rugs, cushions and padded ourselves as best we could against the sharp granite.

The Minack as it is today!
Picnic baskets would be uncovered, paper mugs of drink would be passed around, out would come X number of Cornish pasties, each well wrapped in a tea-towel ... greedy paws reaching out for the greaseproof paper bag wrapped Pasty – no waste here.

Let the show begin ... as we strained to catch the actors’ voices above the squawking seagulls wheeling around the cliffs, perhaps some Red-billed Choughs – the Cornish emblematic bird, the gusts of wind, the gentle crashing of the waves below ...

Red Billed Choughs
This is the Cornwall of our childhood .... though I have many memories of sitting in warmer situations eagerly anticipating the extraction of my Pasty from the Aga, put on the wire rack - its stronger aroma now wafting around the kitchen – and waiting, none too patiently, for it to cool sufficiently before I could tuck in!

Pasties: filled with finely chopped beef skirt and onions, small diced potato and swede-turnip, sprinkled with salt and pepper, a dab of butter – the pastry edges brushed with beaten egg, pulled up and pinched together on the top – a hole punched in the middle to let the steam out, placed on a baking tray and baked in a moderate oven for 50 minutes or so ... til golden brown, and steaming hot ... remove, leave to cool for five minutes.

Robert Morton Nance (born 1873 - 1959) wrote a ballad  in 1898 ...

The Merry Ballad of the Cornish Pasty

Let all the World say what it can
Still I hold by the Cornishman
And that one most especially
That first found out the Cornish Pasty.

The Cornish Pasty ballad is not his true claim to fame!

Nance returned to Cornwall living high on the moor in the village of Nancledra halfway across the Penwith peninsula from St Ives to Penzance – well trodden and driven by our family – where he wrote and refined his books on the Cornish language, including a dictionary, which remain as standard reference works to this day.

The World Pasty Championships are being held at The Eden Project this weekend ... the protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status in Europe, means that no-one can sell a product called a Cornish Pasty unless it has been made in Cornwall.

The trouble is – in my humble opinion – they granted the wrong ‘crimping’ style as the definitive method ... Cornish Pasties must be crimped on top – as I describe above ... but home-made is an absolute essential.

The Biomes and Link Building
showing the "Field of Light"
installation by Bruce Munro
St Piran, the patron Saint of Tin Miners, would turn in his grave ... his Saint’s Day is tomorrow ... in fact if he saw the latest Pasty haute cuisine ... he’d be burrowing further into his Dune grave: the sands encroached and his oratory was abandoned in the 10th century.

Some of the Pasty delicacies on offer at The Eden Project ...

·        Wild rabbit poached in cider with leeks, finished with peas and lemon zest?
·        Cornish Yarg (cheese), cream cheese, black trumpet and king oyster mushroom Pasty?
·        Fruits of the forest Pasty with squirrel and rabbit meat, wild mushrooms, native nuts and herbs?
·        Steak and Cornish Blue Cheese Pasty with beef, potato and onion?

Just sometimes I prefer the simple original version ... my friends always drool at the thought of my home-made pasties ... while I spent years drooling over my mother’s pasties – now she was a brilliant cook.

Some tips ... pastry:  Work your pastry well, almost kneading it, and then leave to chill in the fridge before thinking about rolling it out.  You shouldn’t need to use flour when rolling out your pastry .... if you do (guilty as charged!) – it suggests you haven’t worked it well enough so it may break when you come to the crimping.

Now – the extra bite:  Add a dab of clotted cream on top of your ingredients to help the gravy taste sweet and delicious .... now that I might try – as we’d almost certainly have Cornish Cream and some delicious sweet!

The Pasty boys
The dual Pasty – savoury one end, sweet the other – probably occurred as the peripatetic habits of the Cornish miners spread across the globe, when their skills at mining became invaluable to the New World ...

I still prefer my Mummy’s version!  She would be very pleased to know I think that ... we’re nearing our English Mothering Sunday – next week ... ours is linked to Easter Day and its liturgical origins.

A fun childhood rhyme from the 1940s:

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, ate a Pasty five feet long,
Bit it once, bit it twice, Oh my Lord, it’s full of mice!!

So on this chilly, rainy Sunday – I’ll leave you with the comment that I’d very much like a traditional Pasty for my lunch – and then I could have a snooze!  Good idea?

Talking about comments – does anyone get comments back from Blogger blogs?  I feel I’ve been thrust out to sea without a paddle – no communication whatsoever ... if you leave a comment here – do you know about it .. and if you do – are you a Blogger blogger or a WP blogger?  And any other useful helpful information you can offer me/us - like are you using the new interface?  Thanks very much!

Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

56 comments:

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Thanks Hilary for showing all some of our English Heritage, I have some happy memories of Cornwall with my late husband and family when they were small.

About comments from other blogs I seem to accumalate followers but only a handful are REAL followers. I never hear from the majority, If I follow someone I always try and comment on their post unless I'm ill or away,

Have a good week.
Yvonne.

Betsy Wuebker said...

Hi Hilary - I'm happy to be first! Pasties are a very common treat in the northeast lower peninsula of Michigan, where my mother was raised, and throughout the Upper Peninsula. Michigan pasties are rather bland, mostly rutabaga, inexpensive cuts of meat like round or chuck steak or hamburger, with potatoes in the filling - although I've seen them done with cheddar, too. My father liked his drenched in ketchup, or so I'm told, more than likely eating them to be polite. Also, not to be confused with pasties pronounced with the long "a" - despite my husband's glee in the deliberate mispronunciation when we begin to see the roadside signs for them! :D

Re: the comments. I'm an independent blogger using the WordPress platform, the new interface is much friendlier in my estimation, and I'm not sure about the notification issue. :)

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Diane said...

I cannot remember the last time I had a Cornish pasty. Maybe I should make one for myself - with rabbit :) Diane

Rosaria Williams said...

I've never had one! It reminds me of calzone, an Italian type of pasty. This was quite informative. As for blogger notifications, it depends on how you have set up your settings.

Mike Goad said...

So far as comments, I just subscribe to the post comments so that I can see the comments that come after mine. That way I can see if there has been a reply. Eventually, I have to go back and clean out the old comment subscriptions in my Goolge fee reader. You'd think that Google would come up with a better way for Blogger, but this seems to be it.

I blog using WordPress on my own domains.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Yvonne - it's a lovely county with as you say some very happy memories - and it's good I can include some 'history' with the post.

It's now if I comment on your blog - the following comments and your reply don't come through to my email (and they used to via the "subscribe to comments" which Google seems to have withdrawn.

@ Betsy - 2nd .. the trouble is .. we never know if someone's typing away across a pond or two!

Actually what you've described is the way pasties should be made .. everything diced very small .. inexpensive bits of meat are the best!! potatoes, onions, rutabaga (Swede-turnip)- a dab of butter, seasoned .. and baked. Delicious.

Each to his own taste - I guess! I know ... different pronunciations - when I was in the north yesterday ... I had to recalibrate and repeat a lot of words!

I think I agree .. but until we're all ready to move across and I cant' comment on that new interface - and now the comment stream doesn't come through any more .. once I comment on other Bloggers' blogs .. just hope they reinstate it - is all I can say. I can't now have a conversation on a blog - unless it's this one (my own) or a WP one .... as others' comments don't come through. Irritating ...?!?!

@ Diane - oh no .. now you've got my goat!! - but I love rabbit stew - it's so delicious ...

@ Rosaria - haven't you ..you're missing out on a traditional Cornish treat. Calzone uses pizza dough .. not the shortcrust type we use in pasties.

Blogger has changed - arbitrarily - and you will not get this comment into your email... unless because I'm on the old platform it's completely messed me up. That's what I'm 'grumping' about!

@ Mike - I'm fairly certain you won't get them any more .. let me know I'll email you.

The blog posts you'll get ... but you won't get this comment reply (and if you were on Blogger you certainly won't). But knowing my lack of techie knowledge - I may be missing a trick - this complete shut down on receipt of comments in my inbox only happened last week.

I may need to switch to WP ...

@ Pam - good to see you again .. well a few choices here - make your own - give it a try .. I made a pasty pie with the extra meat and veg! Take another trip to Cornwall to gather some more memories .. sounds like a very good alternative .. glad I reminded you of memory lane.

Thanks Yvonne, Betsy, Diane, Rosaria, Mike and Pam .. good to see you - it's so cold here I could do with a pasty right now!! Cheers Hilary

Botanist said...

We still make pasties sometimes - notice I refrained from calling them "Cornish" in case the Euro word police track me down to British Columbia :)

Those Cornish gulls are something to watch out for, though. When we last visited Cornwall, we were eating lunch sitting on a harbour wall when a gull swooped from behind like an exocet and nabbed half a sandwich from my wife's hand.

And, I agree, crimped on top is definitely the way to do it!

Mike Goad said...

Hilary,

I did get it, about 14 minutes after you posted it.

I subscribe by clicking on the link at the bottom the page that says:

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Then all comments come to my Google feed reader.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Iain .. good to see you - Yes I did .. Pasties BC Euro Police?! The kids will enjoy them .. I expect and hope!

Gulls in general - real thieves! I hate to think the damage they'd with that bill - if a collision with our skin occurs! They are quite incredible .. and are distinctly frightening at times .. very good fliers though.

Glad you agree with me - crimping on the top - good!

@ Mike - oh well ... but perhaps you've enlightened me - I'll try others' blogs now and see if that works. Thanks for the tip - but they go to your Reader and not email .. now I have to learn how Reader works .. I'm a wimp!! I use Reader for my blog posts - but getting comments in there too .. will be interesting. Let's see?! Thanks for the tip though ...

Good to see you both - cheers Hilary

Bob Scotney said...

One of my sons and grandsons live in Cornwall so the Eden Project and pasties are well known to us.

AS for comments I find it's not always possible to return to a post I've commented on. Blogger doesn't tell me when there is a reply or more comments made. Interestingly Ive never subscribed to post comments.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Don't believe I've ever eaten squirrel before!
Sounds like some fine memories from your childhood.

Sara said...

Wow. My mouth is watering as I read this post. YUMMY. I think I like the original recipe.

As usual, I love how combine a bit of history, a bit of food and your love of mom in your posts. It makes them very tasty reads:~)

Old Kitty said...

I'd love to taste your home made, properly crimped at the top, with a splodge of clotted cream in the other end as a lovely surprise. Unfortunately I'm a vegetarian so the beef will have to be.. erm... quorn! LOL!

I love baking but I fail big time with pastry baking so wouldn't dream of attempting a pasty - let alone the beloved Cornish one!

Did you see The Fixer - Alexi Polizzi - on BBC2? She goes about helping failing family businesses? I think episode 2 was a family run bakery somewhere lovely in Cornwall and their shop hinged on their home-made authentic Cornish Pasty!

Oh now I'm craving for one - but with cheese and onion filling!

Take care
x

MorningAJ said...

We had pasties for lunch yesterday. Nothing to do with any championships though.

As for comments - I don't get follow up comments unless I come and look for them. I never have. I opted out of it to save overfilling my email inbox.

Anonymous said...

Pasties, mmm not that keen on the traditional ones. I prefer cheese an d onion. Yes, I saw a TV programme about how the crusts were created for the workers to have something to hold onto with their dirty hands like handles.

I'm on Blogger and check that my comments hav posted before I move away from the site (unless they are being moderated)but I don't subscribe to comments. I do get notfied on my gmail when others leave them on my blog though.

Ellie Garratt said...

I'm a blogger blogger and receive an email every time someone comments, which I try to reply to.

Funny your post should be about pasties. A friend (wink, wink) took me on a six-mile hike on Dartmoor last Tuesday and we had pasties on top of Hound Tor. It was a perfect day!

T. Powell Coltrin said...

I learn so much from you. First of all, I'm a country girl so I've ate wild squirrel and rabbit but never in a pasty or in a pie.

That last rhyme cracked me up and might have made me gag a bit.

Teresa

Jannie Funster said...

Wow, squirrel and wild rabbit. I'll not tell BB to read this post. He came to us from the wild, you know.

And on this chilly rainy Sunday you are most likely asleep at this hour of my writing.

No prob with commenting.

GOtta fly.

xoxo

Susan Scheid said...

Ah, when I first visited Cornwall, the first thing I wanted to do was get a Cornish pasty. Never had a true homemade one, though. Now that would be something!

As for comments: I'm on the new interface, and it has, as all these things do, pluses and minuses, balancing out to naught at best. Even with the old interface, as I get so overwhelmed with e-mails, I've not subscribed to comments on other blogs. I try to make sure, before I leave a blog, that my comment has gone through, and I also check back manually for replies from time to time. It's cumbersome, but it works well enough I haven't felt forced to find another solution as of yet.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Bob - your son selected the best place to live .. and your grandson will have many happy memories from Cornwall.

Blogger used to aggregate comment replies for each post (once I'd made a comment on that Blogspot post) - but it switched it off.

Mike suggested I try the Post Atom Feed at end of post - then they'll go into my Reader .. I'll see how that works with a few blogs.

@ Alex - I don't think I have either .. rabbit yes .. we had some lovely times in Cornwall.

@ Sara - good .. perhaps you can give them a try (or persaude JC to cook them for you?).

Thanks Sara .. so pleased you enjoyed the post ..

@ Old Kitty - well one day we'll make a plan?! Ok we'll do a vegetarian one ... Actually I'm hopeless with pastry too - I buy it I'm afraid!

No, I didn't .. I thought she might have done one in Cornwall .. but had something else on - I expect the series will be back.

@ AJ - sounds like a good lunch!

Oddly enough I was thinking of unsubscribing from comments to some posts - but Google pulled the plug on all comments first!

@ Madeleine - bought pasties I agree I prefer the vegetarian ones.

The idea of the 'handle' i.e. the crimped end of the pasty - is as you describe - and that still holds true today for garden dirty or beach sandy children!

Posting the comment is not a problem .. it's if you reply to my comment I left on your blog, now I no longer know.

Our own blog it's ok - but and quite often I like to see what others' say on the post and on the comments - now it's stopped .. I'm going to try Atom Feed and see what happens.

@ Ellie - I think you'll find now .. this comment won't come through - and if it does I'd be interested to find out how .. I'll email you.

How wonderful that you were able to get out and have that fantastic hike on Dartmoor - it must have been glorious up there .. then pasties to eat to sustain you = sounds good to me!

@ Teresa - thanks so much - I've never had wild squirrel (though I'm sure in War time they were shot for food) ... rabbit is delicious though.

This rhyme is just such a good one for children to sing and sing .. wish I'd known about it as a child! We'd have driven our parents wild!

Teresa - my thoughts are with your grandparents-in-law .. and hope the family is coping with the tornado devastation .... just glad they weren't hurt.

@ Jannie - glad you thought that BB shouldn't know .. I definitely don't want to upset him!

Funny we had a cold wet Sunday - while in Santa Fe - I gather they had snow showers again .. and you're saying it's very cold. Then Teresa was in the Tornado belt ..

Thanks for the MP3 - I'll listen shortly .. love your tunes and songs .. good luck with your entry.

@ Susan - perhaps one day we can make a plan for you to have a home-made pasty.

Comments I need to sort out somehow .. I agree about being overwhelmed by emails - but I was about to unsubscribe from some blogs for comments .. but others' I really enjoyed reading others' comments and learning from the interaction.

I can't necessarily remember which blogs I particularly want to go back to .. so the email feed coming in was really helpful.

My fingers might have had to do more walking through my emails - but the brain didn't need to remember where to go!

Thanks so much to you all for your comments about Cornwall, Pasties, and then the comment scenario .. I'll try the post atom feed ..

Have excellent weeks .. cheers Hilary

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

JD Meier commented - but couldn't leave a comment since I changed the parameters to exclude anonymous Users.

So now I allow registered users (includes Open ID) - which gets rid of the spam that uses the Anonymous .. which was irritating me in my email - it may get caught but still appears in gmail.

JD's comment is:


> This is the Cornwall of our childhood

I always wished I could live a 1,000 childhoods ... there is such a wide array of experience.

One thing that always surprised me is that no matter how differently we all have grown up, we all share in common the experience of a child growing up, making sense of their world.

@ JD - thankfully we do have these childhood memories and hold them dear to our hearts ... whether they were in the streets, the rural areas, farmland, gardens or holidays at grandparents, bed and breakfast, caravanning .. etc etc ... we hold our own stories within us.

Great to see you via email - thanks so much ...

Now I must learn to use the HTML tags too ..

Cheers Hilary

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ everyone .. JD's Sources of Insight blog - has an article on his system he's developed at Microsoft .. he's so down to earth in his approach to life - Agile Results is a time management system that's focused on meaningful results - and warrants a read:

"30 Days of Getting Results"

This is his posting .. you might be interested:

http://sourcesofinsight.com/30-days-of-getting-results-revisited/

Cheers everyone - Hilary

Symphony of Love said...

Cornish pastry, that is one of my favourites except that we call it 'curry puff' over here and the fillings inside are usually potatoes, chicken, and egg. Talking about it, I may just get one for myself later.

Regarding the comments, pardon me, I do not quite understand what you mean. I was able to comment most time without any issue.

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

Hilary! I'm drooling. So many wonderful foods... except for the Mice. LOL. Oh how I long to be there, soaking up the sea breeze, chomping down on all those delectable sweets.

Happy Monday, Hilary. Best to your dear Mother.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful post. I've never had a Cornish pasty, but I've enjoyed Michigan pasties. Yum! I haven't made them in awhile, but I need to make a batch soon. You can make them relatively cheaply when using cheaper cuts of meat, shredded up, and then adding lots of veggies.

Susanne
PUTTING WORDS DOWN ON PAPER

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi BK . I think it's the puff aspect - let alone the different fillings .. using short crust pastry takes it back to the basics .. and early 1900s!

Comments seem to be a muddle - but no worries .. I'll sort it out - just glad you don't have a problem ..

@ Joylene - sorry about the mice!! Fun rhyme though .. ?! Wouldn't it be lovely to be down at the Theatre - let's wait a few months though!!

Thanks for your thoughts re my mother ..

@ Susanne - I gather the Michigan pasties originate from the early settlers .. but if you can make your own they are so delicious - glad you'll give them a try!!

Lovely to see you BK, Joylene and Susanne .. thanks so much for your comments - cheers Hilary

Unknown said...

Those Cornish pastries look a lot like the Argentinian empanadas that we get down here in Mexico. I love them, they have great meat filling and some wonderful vegetarian ones.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Clarissa - they taste very different I suspect - or rather I know .. seeing as I make them!!

The modern variety of Cornish pasties of various types and makes .. usually with flaky pastry offering different fillings .. and sometimes I love those too.

I haven't been to Argentina .. but I guess puff pastry parcels are similar everywhere ...

I'd love to come to Mexico and Argentina someday to taste your delicacies .. they sound delicious .. cheers Hilary

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

I used to make Cornish pasties fairly often when our kids were growing up and we were always on the go to some sort of practice or sports game. They're so handy to grab and go. Our boys even liked them cold. I used a good cut of ground beef, and onions, carrots, and potatoes. A bit of good ol' worcestershire sauce in the filling, and a whole wheat crust. Yummy. Haven't made them for a long time, but now you've got them on my mind. May have to fix them again sometime soon.

scarlett clay said...

Hilary you've got me good and hungry after this post!lol...they sound delicious...the lamb and mint I saw on the chalkboard sign sounds good, too...LOVE the idea of sweet on one end and savory on the other! :) My girls and I need to try to make some of these, thanks for sharing your recipe!

Juliet said...

Hilary, you have brought back some happy memories of a winter when I lived in Cornwall, in a little cottage in Lerryn, near Lostwithiel, and there I sampled many a delicious Cornish pastie. Thanks for all the information and the mouth-watering recipes.
I don't subscribe for follow-up comments as Blogger then sends me everyone's comments and it gets overwhelming. so I have to return and scroll down again to read your replies.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Susan - they're good aren't they - so useful .. as food on the go - it's the flavour inside that's so delicious. I like your idea of ringing up the changes - Worcestershire sauce (I love that!) .. very good for picnics .. or as you say sports games or practices. Enjoy making them again ...

@ Scarlett - there are so many varieties now-a-days .. What an excellent idea that the girls get a chance to make some with you .. the aroma round the kitchen will be too enticing! Chop everything really small .. the smaller the better .. and it's a sort of balance of ingredients .. not too much of anything .. the vegetables meld down .. while the butter gives them a little moisture.

@ Juliet - so pleased I brought back memories from those days - must have been a different way of life. Lostwithiel is a lovely part of the world ... Happy thoughts!

I used to use the follow-up comments Blogger sent to my gmail -but they switched it off. I'd really like them to reinstate it - as I can see my Reader is going to get choc a bloc?!

Lovely to see you Susan, Scarlett and Juliet - should you make some pasties have fun .. and enjoy supper afterwards! Cheers Hilary

Coral Wild said...

mmmmm your Cornish Pasty sounds so delicious I'm getting quite hungry!

As you will remember, the "Cornish Pasty" is also sold here in SA but I've long since stopped buying them as the commercial ones tend to have too much greasy pastry (flaky variety) and too little filling....

And I'm not domesticated enough to cook my own...

So my imagination will just have to suffice!

I think people have "commented" about comments enough above - I don't usually subscribe to follow ups as it overfills my inbox. I just try to remember to come back to check up manually...

Unknown said...

I've been pondering what to have for dinner this evening and now, the only thing that will do is a Cornish Pasty. I like the original - can't stand having my food messed around with - and I really want one now. One without mice, lol. Thanks, Hilary. ;)

I always hit the subscribe to comments things so I get to see the comments.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Sue/Coral! .. I do remember the 'greasy' style ones - same here too - that's why I love the home-made ones, which I don't do very often. Sometimes I'll have a flaky one .. usually spinach and cheese if I can find one, or of not bacon and cheese - not (I promise!) often though!

I was on the verge of unsubscribing from some of those comments - but Google arbitrarily cut that link - so now I'm having to devise another way ..

I prefer my comments to come in to my inbox .. and blog posts going to Reader - this mixing is doing my head in!!

Not sure the brain can accommodate all these! We'll see ..

@ Shirley - are you going to make your own? .. or are the dogs going to find you a rabbit on your afternoon walk? Enjoy supper whatever you decide to do ...

Blogger have done away with that facility now ---- that's why I don't get the comments coming in any more (except from my own blog) .. and WP and website blogs ..

It is frustrating me - this comment thing ..

Thanks Coral - lovely seeing you - I love the South African stories .. and Shirley - hope you find a pasty or two for supper ... thanks for the comments and thoughts - cheers Hilary

MTeacress said...

Mmm. Mm. I want to try one. However, I'm not confident in my ability to make one! Maybe some day. :)

About commments...very few reply via email to my comments. Most simply visit my blog and leave a comment on my post. If you reply to my comment on your blog, I do not know about it.

Anonymous said...

The delis at the grocery stores still serve similar meat Pasties. They're delicious if you get them fresh. Unfortunately, the heat lamps dry them out so get there before lunch and they are warm and tasty!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Michelle ... good to see you - and yes I know even thinking about pasties makes my mouth water! Give it a try - when you pluck up courage.

Ah - comments to my own blog, as you with yours .. is not the problem .. it's if I comment on your blog - now since Google arbitrarily switched off sending your reply and others' comments to your post to my gmail - I'm bereft.

Such is life - make another plan .. but I wish they wouldn't do it!!

@ Steve .. the delis do serve delicious tasting pasties .. just not quite like the real thing!! Home made is the best.

Good to see you both ... cheers Hilary

jennyfreckles said...

I was never very good at pastry making so Cornish Pasties aren't a treat I'm used to. Not sure I like the sound of the new-fangled ones, surely trad are best. You remidned me that I'd love to visit the Minack theatre too (preferably with something warm and soft to sit on!)

writing and living by Richard P Hughes said...

I'm like Susan Schied.
I haven't tried the new interface. Well I did, and I didn't like it.

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

I'm non-techy. I'm on Blogger. I have no clue what you're talking about with the "new interface."

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Jenny - I have to say nor was I .. I'm not patient enough to be a pastry chef! I agree traditional is best. Excellent that you'd like to visit the Minack Theatre - it is a wonderful setting .. but we do need to wrap up very warmly! I hope you can get down soon ...

@ Richard - the changes seem to be muddling a lot of us. Susan has made some good points there ...

@ Susan - I feel very much like you - but the new interface is around .. and I just feel I need to know more and understand it. I suspect Google will dominate and make us change in due course ..

Thanks Jenny, Richard and Susan .. have lovely days ahead ..and enjoy yourselves - cheers Hilary

Barbara Swafford said...

Hi Hilary.

Pasties. Mmmmm. I could go for one right now. Being raised in Michigan, as Betsy mentioned, pasties are quite popular in that area. I've made them, but can't get them to taste as good as my mothers were. Pasties have a taste, to me, that's indescribable.

I have a funny story for you about pasties. A few years ago my husband and I went to Michigan on vacation. Since he had never been there before, everyone we visited thought it would be nice to serve a "native" dish and, of course, it was pasties. After the third house we visited which served pasties, he said, "Is that all they eat here?". LOL.

Ironically, my heritage is Finnish and pasties are something most Finns enjoy making, too.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Barbara .. it's interesting how pasty oriented Michigan apparently has become. I'll have to visit to try out their pasties - one day ..

I agree I need that taste I had as a child - thankfully I can recreate them - using the recipe above - as long as I leave the pastry time to rest!

Your story is too good to be true - poor hubby! But one I love .. and will enjoy retelling ..

I imagine a lot of your Finnish food is similar to Polish fare .. but with the differences available from the forests - berries and mushrooms. Then the fish pasty - with hardboiled egg .. those are delicious ..

Thanks Barbara - lovely seeing you .. and great addition to the conversation ... cheers Hilary

TALON said...

My Mom made the best pasties. I miss them. I've tried, but they never turn out quite as good.

On a chilly rainy Sunday your plan sounds like the perfect one, Hilary. Hope it was perfect.

Linda said...

OK, now I am definitely hungry. Those sound absolutely delicious, and I'm with you, the original ones sound the best.

I've eaten meat pies and empanadas from other regions. Maybe someday I can try Cornish pasties.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Talon .. mothers do make the best food don't they ... and a chilly wet Sunday for a wonderful lazy day with a pasty would be just great!

@ Linda - original is the best and home-made is included in the best of best! I hope you get to try a proper Cornish pasty one day ...

Cheers Talon and Linda .. lovely seeing you both ... Hilary

Southpaw said...

You make them sound so delicious and I love the memory of eating them on a chilly day.

Karen Lange said...

Hilary, you are a wonder! Once again you have informed me in your engaging and lovely way. Thank you! And suddenly, for some reason, I am now hungry...:)

MunirGhiasuddin said...

I remember Cornish Pasties. When we lived in Cornwall. I think the name of the Hospital that my husband worked for is Barncoose Hospital. I was pregnant with my first born then, I went to India because my father insisted that the first born be delivered and brought home to maternal grandparents. Thanks for triggering my memory. It is so pleasant.

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

Lovely post, Hilary! I remember going to Cornwall when I was little. There was a river that ran through the town and the water looked like milk because of the potteries. Is that a true memory? I always doubt myself because I was so young when I lived there.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Holly - I have to say - pasties are always delicious at home or when we were out at the beach or theatre.

@ Karen - I keep thinking of them as I reply to the comments and I want to get out there and make some! Thanks - so pleased you enjoyed the post ..

@ Munir - Burncoose Hospital in the Cornish mining district of Redruth/Camborne - then out to India to see your parents and relatives with your first born .. family are so important - proved here with your memories .. that's lovely.

@ Sharon - so pleased it triggered happy memories .. and you're right the milkiness (rock flour) in the water came from the china clay run-off .. and the sea at Carlyon Bay has a milky turquoise to it. Similar to the glacial flour found at Lake Louise and others in Canada ...

Lovely seeing you all on this beautiful Spring day here! - thanks Holly, Karen, Munir and Sharon .. cheers Hilary

Theresa Milstein said...

Those pasties look and sound delicious. I think there were pasties mentioned in Harry Potter--I'd wondered what they were (but I was too lazy to look it up). I think just about every culture has a version of it. I'm a big fan of Jamaican beef patties.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Theresa .. I'm sure Harry would have had pasties somewhere along the line - and I'm sure you're right about every culture having their own version.

We'd describe patties more like a burger .. a meat patty. Jamaican beef sounds rather good ...

Great seeing you and thanks for posting .. cheers Hilary

susan said...

Two of my favourite things - real Cornish pasties in Cornwall on a beach..and my favourite place The Minack Theatre - [signed up on Facebook to it and watched the refurb over the winter!] Thanks for posting.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Sue - good to meet you - thanks so much for coming by .. I can't comment on your blog as the comment box is embedded .. I'm trying to work my way round to see if there's another way.

Oh great that you signed up to the FB page of the Minack .. must have been fascinating .. perhaps I should do that! I hardly do FB ...

Aren't pasties the most delicious things .. love them.

Good to meet you and so pleased you enjoyed this post .. cheers Hilary