240: CORNISH PASTIES

The myth

The reason a traditional Cornish pasty has such a big edge on it is because the tin miners, who took the pasties to work with them, were likely to have traces of arsenic on their hands. They’d use the edge as a disposable handle, a safety zone between their hands and their mouths. They’d eat the pie, and chuck the handle. This had the added advantage of providing leftovers to propitiate the “knockers” – spirits or Little People who inhabited tin mines. In some versions, throwing away the pasty’s handle is explained by either arsenic or fairies; in others, by both.

The “truth”

To qualify as a true Cornish pasty, your pie must indeed be edged with an exaggerated, crimped ridge. But there’s no historic evidence to suggest that the ridges went uneaten. In fact, 19th century photographs of miners at their snap show the pasties being eaten from one end to the other, while the far end is held in the cloth or paper in which it was carried. The crimp has to be a strong one so as to seal in the juices and the steam, since an important part of pasty preparation is the post-baking period of resting, in which the ingredients continue to cook inside the pastry. The fold also provides structural strength and heat retention.

Sources

www.cornwalllive.com/whats-on/food-drink/potted-history-pasty-whoinvented-1255086; www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/10280993/ A-taste-for-tradition-the-history-of-the-Cornish-pasty.html; https://warrens bakery.co.uk/2016/05/09/the-curious-origin-of-cornish-pasty-crusts

Disclaimer

There are probably more arguments per minute about Cornish pasties than about any other topic on Earth. For instance, I refuse to accept that they traditionally held beef; you’re telling me early proletarians had meat as part of their daily diet? So feel free to send in your corrections, clarifications and prejudices.

Mythchaser

Did corsets really make Victorian women faint, asks a reader. Let your answers be unrestrained.