Monday, February 4, 2008

The shape of Cornish pasties

I'm now confused. Yesterday I messed up the shape of the Cornish pasties: I folded over in half and crimped, much like a Jamaican patty or a calzone: this morning when the gracious MrsMagpie sent me a link to a recipe online, complete with lovely photograph, I realised that I remember the shapes differently, and I had messed up. The pasty should be folded up from both sides, joined at the top in the middle and crimped that way.
I prepared a posting on that score, and prepared to issue the standard triplicate mea culpas to the family for yesterday's error. Then I started investigating other recipes: and I discovered that wikipedia claims the folded-over shape to be traditional, with the folded-up version to be more from Devon.
And now I find that the BBC has a report about the Cornish Pasty Association, whose website has lovely pictures suggesting something halfway between folded-up and folded-over.

Clearly I need to do some more research here.

Yours, confused by non-origami folding,
N.

2 comments:

alice c said...

My mother makes pasties with a ridge along the top but the ones we buy tend to look like the CPA picture. The important thing (if you are a tin miner) is to have a ridge of pastry to grasp with your dirty hands which can subsequently be thrown away. And please don't mention Devon in the same sentence as pasties.

Cornish Dreamer said...

I've just been conferring with ET and she says that pasties should have the crimping as per the Cornish Pasty Association (just halfway between the top and the side). The pastry should be short crust pastry made with lard (although butter is an okay, but not authentic, alternative).
Roll the pastry out and use a dinner plate to cut around for the shape...add pieces of skirt beef, swede, potato, carrots and onion, and plenty of seasoning to taste.
The pastry recipe will follow when we've spoken to ET's nan!
Hope that helps.

RT