Top Cornish pasty in world is filled with... pineapple

IT’S enough to make a Cornishman choke on his pasty. An American newcomer has taken a first prize at the World Pasty Championships after using a radical ingredient – pineapple.

The Pure Pasty Company from Virginia trumped British entries with a dish it describes as the ‘Hawaiian pizza’ of pasties. It is the first time an American contender has won the accolade at the awards, held every year at the Eden Project in Cornwall.

As well as the contentious addition of pineapple, the winning pasty was filled with barbecued chicken, sweet potato, courgette, red pepper and sweetcorn.

Mike Burgess, who founded the Pure Pasty Company in 2010, said: ‘We love to combine the traditional Cornish pasty with American dishes to come up with new ones.’ The Warrens Bakery from Cornwall did fly the local flag by winning second place. But it wasn’t with a traditonal meat and veg recipe... it triumphed with its vegan yellow Thai pasty.