This
series may seem a tad long winded but these culinary masterpieces
should not be rushed!
The
filling is always raw and is baked at the same time as the pastry.
The pasty is a meal in itself and in Cornwall it's actually
considered an insult to serve them with anything else.
The
meat content should be diced, never minced. The beef should be
either chuck steak or skirt – also known as blade. A pasty should
contain 12.5% beef. The vegetables should be finely sliced of a
similar size so they cook evenly and the potatoes should be an “old
variety” which will “fall”. Use strong plain flour – the
sort used in bread making. As you can see, this is not an expensive
meal – at it's roots the pasty evolved from humble ingredients that
were plentiful and nutritious. The meat element was the most costly
which is probably why the percentage of meat is as small as it is.
Think
of the pasty as a pressure cooker – you need to release steam –
place a small hole in the top of the pasty. Don't be tempted to tuck
into your pasty straight from the oven – trust me – the inside
stays hot for a long time.
Pasties
are usually personalised with initials – top left, others say top
right – who knows! It does however date back I think to the miners
when some owners provided large ovens at the surface to keep the
pasties hot for the men. A useful tip for today if you're tweaking
the filling to suit your family and friends' preferences!
You'll read all sorts of “do's and don'ts” about pasty pastry
and to be fair, there's no right or wrong way, all I can tell you is
what follows works.
Recipes up next!
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