ISO A true Cornish Pasty

[dgregory]

If theres one thing that gets the blood boiling down in the South West of England it's the ingiedients and method of making a Pasty. Pasties originated as a solution to provide tin miners with an all in one meal including meat, veg and a seperate chamber for dessert enclosed in a pastry crust with a thick rim that the toxic fingers could hold whilst eatingthen throw away.

Since moving down to this part of UK I have become keen to find the true pasty and so far the picture is blurred.

For example on this blog is a video of "how to make a cornish pasty" which uses Lamb! Now I'm a newbie but the general consensus is that Beef Skirt is a must.

I'm also tickled by references to a local blogger - the Pasty Muncher who continually challenges UK Celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver to introduce traditional Cornish Pasties ontohis menu at the New Fifteen Cornwall restaurant.

Amongst the DC crew is there anyone who can confidently post details of a truely great pasty please.

[Andy M.]

I'd bet there are as many different pasty recipes as there are miner's wives to make them. They were, no doubt, made with whatever was in the home at the time so the ingredients can vary, not only by maker, but from week to week.

[Robo410]

In the USA, pasties are a local item in the UP or Upper Peninsula of Michigan...again originally among the miners (tin copper etc up there). And the recipe differs from store to store and church supper to church supper and kitchen to kitchen. But I have made and cooked them with an old timer from the UP and seen many other variations. Chopped or ground beef, chopped onion, diced potato , possibly rutabaga if you have em (golden turnip) , salt pepper, dense crust. Basic. Personally I would add a pich of thyme or marjoram but that would be a "gourmet" one. If you want fruit in one end, add apples and cinamon sugar to one corner.