Pineapple makes US pasty a world-beater
IT IS among the most controversial and divisive ingredients chefs can add to a savoury dish.
But now an American pasty containing pineapple has won the World Pasty Championships.
The Pure Pasty Company from Virginia trumped British entries with a dish it describes as the “Hawaiian pizza” of pasties in the competition’s Open Savoury Company category.
It is the first time a US entrant has won the prestigious accolade at the awards, held each year at the Eden Project in Cornwall.
Its barbecue pulled chicken-filled pastry is made with sweet potato, courgette, red pepper, sweetcorn and pineapple, and aims to deliver both sweet and spice in one mouthful. Behind it in second place was the Warrens Bakery from Cornwall with a vegan yellow Thai pasty. In previous years, the category has been dominated by traditional British entries.
Mike Burgess, founder of the winning company: “We love to combine the traditional Cornish pasty with American dishes to come up with new ones.
“We wanted an element of fruit flavour, a bit like Hawaiian pizza. The pineapple is an important element of our chicken pasty, definitely. It is very bright inside.”