Ain’t no pasty like a Cornish pasty, ’cause a Cornish pasty is now protected by the European Union

If you happen to find local and national conflicts to be unappetizing, the folks over in my paternal homeland are having a much more delicious dispute. The Cornish pasty, a baked meat, potato and butter pie in a flaky crust, has now earned protected cultural status by the European Union. This means that to be labeled a “Cornish pasty,” the product must be made in Cornwall, England, following a particular recipe. But over in Devon across the county line, pasty makers are calling foul.

We used to make pasties as a fundraiser for my high school band. They’d have all the kids work overnight on a weekend making hundreds of them to fill orders. I guess we’d have to call those Cherry pasties now, not Cornish.

Pasties are a staple around northern Minnesota’s Iron Range owing to the region’s mining past. Many Cornish miners immigrated to U.S. mining regions in the late 1800s, bringing with them the tradition of the pasty. I could sure as hell go for a pasty right now. I wonder how many Weight Watchers points are in a pasty? Considering that you could probably heat a small cabin with a slow-burning pasty, I probably don’t want to know.

Comments

  1. My mother insisted you couldn’t make a pasty with butter. You had to use ground suet. They were what I always asked for as a kid for my birthday dinner.

    This may explain why I have already had two stents in my veins before age 60. But I fear “healthy pasty” is an oxymoron.

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