Menu: Cornish Pastys, Peas, Cherry Pie
Outcome: These were pretty good, but not spectacular –
the filling was just meat and veggies, but we all said that we would have
preferred some kind of gravy in with the filling, as they were a bit dry. Oh, and just for future notice, do NOT put a
cherry pie in the oven then go watch “The Princess Bride” without starting a
timer of any kind! Our pie got just a little dark, well,
blackened is more like it. This state is
definitely a do-over.
Next up: Bridget’s turn! She chose Maryland!
Migrating Cornish miners helped to spread pasties into the
rest of the world during the 19th century.
The arrival of the pasty in the Upper Peninsula came with an influx of
Welsh and Cornish miners.
The pasty became popular with working people in Cornwall,
England, where tin miners and others adopted it due to its unique shape,
forming a complete meal that could be carried easily and eaten without
cutlery. In a mine the pasty's dense,
folded pastry could stay warm for several hours, and if it did get cold it
could easily be warmed on a shovel over a candle.
When pasties are being made, each member of the family has
their initials marked at one corner. This way each person’s favorite tastes can
be catered to, identifying each pasty.
The solid ridge of pastry, hand crimped along the top of the pasty, was
so designed that the miner or traveler could grasp the pasty for eating and
then throw the crust away. By doing this, he did not run the risk of germs and
contamination from dirty hands. The crusts weren't wasted though, as many
miners were believers in ghosts or "knockers" that inhabited the
mines, and left these crusts to keep the ghosts content. There is some truth to
this rumor, because the early Cornish tin mines had large amounts of arsenic,
by not eating the corner which the miners held, they kept themselves from
consuming large amounts of arsenic.
One end of the pasty would usually contain a sweet filling
which the wives would mark or initial so the miner wouldn't eat his dessert
first, while the other end would contain meat and vegetables. The true Cornish
way to eat a pasty is to hold it in your hands, and begin to eat it from the
top down to the opposite end of the initialed part. That way its rightful owner
could consume any leftover portion later.
Pasties are one of the most ancient methods of cooking and
of carrying cooked food. It is said that the early Irish Catholic Priests
created them in order to transport food as they walked about the countryside
preaching and aiding the people.
