The Ocelot Oxford and Newbury 121 July 2016 edition | Page 37

Food and Drink

History of pasties

The humble pasty; everybody knows it belongs to
Cornwall and its mining traditions right? Maybe not, as
we are about to investigate. So sit back and prepare to
be amazed by a tale of mining, mince and madness!
The shortcrust pastry filled with meat and vegetables
has been with us potentially since 1207 during the reign
of Henry III. Early references to pasties include a 13th
century charter to the town of Great Yarmouth, in which
the town is bound to send to the sheriffs of Norwich
every year ‘one hundred herrings, baked in twenty-four
pasties’ which would eventually be delivered to the King
to chow down on.
In contrast to its early days as the snack of choice
for kings and nobility, in the 17th and 18th century the
humble pasty became the mainstay of the common folk
of Cornwall, where tin miners and others adopted it due
to its unique shape, forming a complete meal that could
carried easily and eaten without needing cutlery. Miners
would warm their pasties on a shovel over a candle if
they got cold, but this usually wasn’t a problem in the hot
and sweaty tin mines. Maybe it added to the flavour.
Side-crimped pasties gave rise to the suggestion that
the miner might have eaten the pasty holding the thick
edge of pastry, which was later discarded, thereby
ensuring that their dirty fingers (possibly including traces
of arsenic) did not touch food or his mouth. However,

many old photographs show that pasties were wrapped
in bags made of paper or muslin and were eaten from
end-to-end. According to the earliest Cornish recipe
book, published in 1929, this is “the true Cornish way” to
eat a pasty.
In 2006, a researcher in Devon discovered a list of
ingredients for a pasty tucked inside an audit book and
dated 1510, calculating the cost of making a venison
pasty. This replaced the previous oldest recipe, dated
1746, held by the Cornwall Records Office in Truro,
Cornwall.
Modern day pasties are essentially a compromise
between the traditional and the modern assumptions
of what a pasty should be. Traditionalists argue for
an assortment of mince, potato and other seasonal
vegetables, but Ginsters throw in some swede and other,
more readily available veg to make sure they can keep
selling the humble pastry all year round.
So yes, the pasty as we know it in the 21st century is
a Victorian miner’s lunch, but every time you sink your
teeth into a traditional Cornish delicacy, remember that
you are also chowing down on a Royal snack from the
middle ages as well.
Hopefully your pasty won’t actually be from the 12th
century - we don’t believe this would be very good for
you.

www.theocelot.co.uk 37
Ocelot 121 Ox2.indd 37

20/06/2016 19:34