Cornish Pasties have been granted Protected Regional Indication status by the European Commission. This means that only pasties made according to the rules can be called a Cornish Pasty.
This is Not a Cornish Pasty
“A genuine Cornish pasty has a distinctive ‘D’ shape and is crimped on one side, never on top. The texture of the filling for the pasty is chunky, made up of uncooked minced or roughly cut chunks of beef (not less than 12.5%), swede, potato and onion and a light peppery seasoning. The pastry casing is golden in colour, savoury, glazed with milk or egg and robust enough to retain its shape throughout the cooking and cooling process without splitting or cracking. The whole pasty is slow-baked to ensure that flavours from the raw ingredients are maximised. No flavourings or additives must be used. And, perhaps most importantly, it must also be made in Cornwall.”
Our pasties are made with prime Aberdeen Angus beef, locally reared in Hertfordshire, potatoes, carrots, onions and seasoning and have the crimping on the top.
As far as I am aware there is nothing in the rules to say that the meat and vegetables have to be reared or grown in Cornwall, nor do the pasties have to be baked in Cornwall!
Therefore we are not allowed to call them “Cornish Pasties”. So henceforth we will be calling them “This is not a Cornish Pasty”
Do these new rules mean therefore that the beef could be shipped from South America, the vegetables from Africa, they are then assembled in Cornwall, frozen before being shipped all over the UK or even the world, baked at their final destination and are still an “authentic” Cornish Pasty?
Looks like very good marketing by the pasty makers of Cornwall to me!
