The pasty or pastie is indeed a method of preparing vegetables and meat in
a pastry case, crimped or pinched closed and baked and exists in medieval
recipes originating all over the place, even in France and Italy. There was
a lot of variation in the pastry and filling but the principle was the
same, just like the bread version calzone in Italy.
What is understood now as the Cornish Pasty is a very specific development
of pasty cuisine and rightfully standards demanded are high. The strength
of the pasty in Cornwall is no doubt in small measure to its widespread use
as crib by workers, especially miners and farm labours when in other parts
of the country perhaps bread took over as the lunch time staple.
Will probably be chastised for the lack of mining relevance here but in my
experience of historic cookery I thought I would add to Bill's comment.
All the best,
Tehmina
On 4 April 2012 11:05, W Krouwel <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I'm not at all sure that Cornwall can exercise sole rights to the pasty.
> 'By the Sword Divided', John Adair's compilation of first-hand English
> Civil War writings is riddled with comments by looters (on both sides) of
> having swiped mutton, beef and other pasties from their opponents in
> places as far distant from Cornwall as Oxfordshire ... might I suggest that
> the term 'pastie' , and maybe also the Jamaican term 'pattie' was once a
> catch-all term for food encased in pastry and has only recent Cornwall-only
> provenance.
>
> And yes, I agree that anything containing mashed mush (no names but we all
> know who I mean...) should not be dignified with the name 'pastie'.
>
> Regards
>
> |Bill Krouwle
>
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Dr Tehmina Goskar, MA AMA
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http://tehmina.goskar.com/
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