Claire
Master Chef
I've also heard that the heavy crust at the edge was for miners to hold onto with their coal-coated hands, and then be tossed away (I assume in better times). We have pastie places around here, and the ones I've had were delicious, but very, very, very heavy fare. Kinda made me think of tourtiere in a way. Savory pies have sort of left our culture (besides maybe some of the Italian ones), and they used to be the working-man's staple ... easy to carry, good hot or cold. In some cases they were the 1800s equivalent to fast food .... a person (usually a widow, I think), would make them up every night, then sell them from a cart to workers who had no kitchens (I'm referring not only to pasties, but all kinds of savory pies and turnovers). A person could come out of their mine, factory, whatever, and buy one, eat it out of hand in a few minutes, and be back at work in no time. A whole pie could be purchased on the way home from work and be eaten from for several days.