#FoodieFriday – Piglet’s Cornish Pasties

When we were in Cornwall, Mr P was hellbent on having a traditional Cornish pasty, and he was not disappointed by the selection of shops dedicated to selling them.

For something that looks like a simple handheld pie, the Cornish pasty, I was surprised to discover, had a surprisingly rich history.

I wanted to take photos inside the shop, but Mr P gave me one of those looks that said ‘over my dead body’. And then I forgot to take some pics when we got back to the accomodation. Doh!

Anyways, digging into the history of the humble Pasty, I discovered is most closely tied to Cornwall, where it became a staple food by the 18th and 19th centuries. Back then, Cornwall was a major mining region, especially for tin. Because the pasty was easy to carry, it was essentially the perfect packed lunch for miners: practical, filling, and easy to carry underground.

A traditional pasty is made with beef, potatoes, swede, and onion, all sealed inside a thick pastry crust. The distinctive crimped edge wasn’t just decorative: miners would hold the pasty by that crust with dirty hands (often contaminated with substances like arsenic in the mines) and then throw the crust away after eating the rest. Clever bit of early food safety.

The idea of filled pastries goes back much further. Similar foods existed in medieval England and even earlier, but the Cornish version became distinct over time. By the 19th century, as Cornish miners emigrated around the world (to places like the Americas and Australia), they took the pasty with them, spreading its influence globally.

Today, the “Cornish pasty” is actually protected under European law (PGI status—Protected Geographical Indication). That means only pasties made in Cornwall following traditional methods can officially use the name. You’ll still find variations everywhere, but the authentic version is strongly tied to its roots.

When we returned to Portugal, I tried to make some…

I bought the pastry and then used the filling ingredients from this website: https://britishfoodhistory.com/2019/09/13/cornish-pasties/ ChatGPT suggested swede instead of turnip, but I stuck with turnip.

For the filling:

300g chuck, skirt or braising steak, gristle and fat removed.
(I don’t know what the equivalent names in Portugal so I used beef estufado, which is stewing beef)

125g onion

125g turnip,

250g potato, peeled and thinly sliced (I diced)

salt and freshly-ground black pepper

thyme, fresh or dried (optional)

4 tbs beef stock or water

Egg wash:

1 egg beaten with ½ tsp salt

Method: Dice meat, potatoes, turnip and onion. Put in a bowl and season.

I used premade shortcrust pastry (Massa Querada) Cut the pastry to the size of a tea plate. Add a couple of tablespoons of gravy stock to the mixture before spooning it onto the pastry circle.

Brush the edges of the pastry with the egg glaze, seal, and then coat the top with the egg glaze. (1 pack of pastry made two pasties).

Bake for one hour: 200 °C for 20 minutes or until golden brown, then turn down to 180C

Okay, they don’t resemble a true Cornish Pasty, and Mr P said it tasted okay. When I’ve made pasties in the past, I have always slow-precooked the filling.

Do you make Cornish pasties? And what method/ingredients do you use? I was going to add carrot, but apparently that is a no, no.

That’s it for this week, my fellow foodies!

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