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Cornwall: Present day

Holiday Cottage Cornwall

Cornwall attracts millions of discerning visitors each year lured by the magnificent coastal scenery, the mild climate and the peace and tranquility. Tourism in Cornwall began with the introduction of rail travel early in the C20th and has flourished ever since. Today, Cornwall still offers it's distinctive character and very precious natural beauty, but many fabulous gardens, such as Eden and Trebah, are now open to visitors, along with attractions such as Tate Gallery at St. Ives.

The Cornish Pasty

It was said that the Devil has never crossed the Tamar river into Cornwall because Cornish women will put everything and anything into a pasty - and he was afraid he would be included! When a pasty is made at home, each member of the family has their initials marked at one corner of their pasty, this way individual tastes can be catered for.

The Pasty and tin miners

It is said that the pasty originally evolved to meet the needs of tin mining - that great - but now sadly declined Cornish industry. The pasty was easy to carry, could be eaten with dirty fingers away from the arsenic, and was nourishing. Traditional pasties contained meat and vegetables in one end and jam or fruit in the other end, in order to give the hardworking men 'two courses'.

Knockers

This hearty meal wrapped in a pastry casing made for a very practical lunch (or "croust") down in the dark and damp tunnels of the mine. Cornish housewives also marked their mining husband's initials on the left-hand side of the pastry casing, in order to avoid confusion at lunchtime. This was particularly useful when a miner wished to save a 'corner' of his pasty until later, or if he wanted to leave a corner for one of the 'Knockers'.

The Knockers were the mischievous 'little people' of the mines, who were believed by the miners to cause all manner of misfortune, unless they were placated with a small amount of food, after which they could prove to be a source of good luck.

What is a genuine Pasty?

Today there is still a great deal of debate among pasty makers. Some feel that a pasty can only be made with short pastry, while others will advocate rough puff as the ideal . Some will claim that the ingredients must be mixed up inside the pastry, while others will swear that the fillings should be laid out in a particular order before the pasty is sealed.

The issue that invites the most controversy involves the famous 'crimp', the wavy seam that holds the whole pasty together. Should the pasty be sealed across the top or at the side? History suggests that the crimp should be formed at the side, because the pasty has always been eaten by hand, and the side crimp is the most convenient way of holding onto your lunch while you take a big bite.

There are, fortunately, some facts that can be agreed upon by all pasty-makers. The meat should be chopped, the vegetables should always be sliced, and the ingredients must never be cooked before they are wrapped in the pastry. Each pasty must be baked completely from raw. It is this fact that makes the Cornish Pasty unique amongst similar foods from around the world.