Historians have recently made a claim that is rather upsetting to the British food community, disputing the origin of the famous Cornish pasty, a handheld pie usually filled with meat, for anyone unlucky enough to have missed out on them). It was long assumed to have originated in Cornwall, from where it takes its name. It turns out, according to Dr. Todd Gray, chairman of the Friends of Devon's Archives, that they actually originated in Devon.
Dr. Gray apparently discovered an historical document that references the making of pasties as early as 1510, while the first recipe of record in Cornwall didn't appear until 1746. As you might expect with any regional icon, emotions run high on the subject, especially for those in Cornwall. Most other experts, including that author of The Official Encyclopedia of the Cornish Pasty and the spokesman for the Cornish Pasty Association, seem to think that it would be nearly impossible to pinpoint the first instance of a pasty being made and, since pastry/bread vessels were fairly common "as early as the 1100s," the fact that there is a dated, "official" recipe for the modern pasty proves little about the actual origin.
Cheese Course: Brebis Pardou
A transcendent summer tomato salad
Sliced bread turns 80 today
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-13-2006 @ 2:31PM
bdw said...
The Romans had stuffed breads similar to this, and they were all over southern Britain like a cheap suit of armor for about 400 years.
Reply
11-15-2006 @ 5:11PM
MJ said...
Pass it over, God I wish I could get those where I live! Bet they use lard too!!
Reply
11-18-2006 @ 7:22PM
Kriskin Allum said...
I find it quite sad that Devonians feel the need to imitate the Cornish. They have created a similar flag, stolen a Cornish Saint as there own and now think the pasty is from Devon. Well, Imitation is the Greatest Form of Flattery!
Reply
11-26-2006 @ 8:45AM
billie said...
If the recipe had to be written down, it was half inched from Cornwall, as I have never read a recipe for a pasty, It is just passed from mother to daughter. The Cornish don't need to a recipe to know how to make them.
And as historians say the orignal boarder was the river Exe !!!
Reply