A pasty () is a British baked turnover pastry, a variety of which is particularly associated with Cornwall and Devon but has spread all over the United Kingdom and elsewhere through the Cornish diaspora. It consists of a filling, typically meat and vegetables, baked in a folded and crimped shortcrust pastry circle.

The traditional Cornish pasty, which since 2011 has had Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status in Europe,) for a pie, filled with venison, salmon or other meat, vegetables or cheese, baked without a dish. In 1393, Le Ménagier de Paris contains recipes for pasté with venison, veal, beef or mutton.

Other early references to pasties include a charter that was granted by King John of England to the town of Great Yarmouth in 1208. The town was bound to send to the sheriffs of Norwich every year one hundred herrings, baked in twenty four pasties, which the sheriffs delivered to the lord of the manor of East Carlton who then conveyed them to the king. Around the same time, 13th-century chronicler Matthew Paris wrote of the monks of St Albans Abbey "according to their custom, lived upon pasties of flesh-meat". In 1465, 5,500 venison pasties were served at the installation feast of George Neville, archbishop of York and chancellor of England. The earliest reference for a pasty in Devon or Cornwall can be found in Plymouth city records of 1509/10, which describe "Itm for the cooke is labor to make the pasties 10d". They were even eaten by royalty, as a letter from a baker to Henry VIII's third wife Jane Seymour confirms: "...hope this pasty reaches you in better condition than the last one ...". In his diaries written in the mid-17th century, Samuel Pepys makes several references to his consumption of pasties, for instance "dined at Sir W. Pen's ... on a damned venison pasty, that stunk like a devil", but after this period the use of the word outside Devon and Cornwall declined.

In contrast to its earlier place amongst the wealthy, during the 17th and 18th centuries, the pasty became popular with working people in Cornwall and west Devon, where tin miners and others adopted it because of its unique shape, forming a complete meal that could be carried easily and eaten without cutlery. according to the earliest Cornish recipe book, published in 1929, this is "the true Cornish way" to eat a pasty. Another theory suggests that pasties were marked at one end with an initial and then eaten from the other end so that if not finished in one sitting, they could easily be reclaimed by their owners.

Cornish pasty

thumb|right|Cornish pasties at Cornish bakehouse in [[Bath england|Bath]]

The pasty is regarded as the national dish of Cornwall, and an early reference is from a New Zealand newspaper: The term "Cornish pasty" has been in use since at least the early 1860s:

By the late 19th century, national cookery schools began to teach their pupils to create their own version of a "Cornish pasty" that was smaller and was to be eaten as an "economical savoury nibble for polite middle-class Victorians".

On 20 July 2011, after a nine-year campaign by the Cornish Pasty Association (CPA) – the trade organisation of about 50 pasty makers based in Cornwall – the name "Cornish pasty" was awarded Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status by the European Commission. According to the PGI status, a Cornish pasty should be shaped like a 'D' and crimped on one side, not on the top (note: top crimping and an oval shape are the traditional form of a Devon pasty) . Its ingredients should include beef, swede (called turnip in Cornwall), potato and onion, with a light seasoning of salt and pepper, keeping a chunky texture. The pastry should be golden and retain its shape when cooked and cooled. The PGI status also means that Cornish pasties must be prepared in Cornwall. They do not have to be baked in Cornwall, nor do the ingredients have to come from the county, though the CPA notes that there are strong links between pasty production and local suppliers of the ingredients. Packaging for pasties that conform to the requirements includes an authentication stamp, the use of which is policed by the CPA. and another that it was "protectionism for some big pasty companies to churn out a pastiche of the real iconic product". Major UK supermarkets Asda and Morrisons both stated they would be affected by the change,

Members of the CPA made about 87 million pasties in 2008, amounting to sales of £60 million (about 6% of the food economy of Cornwall). In 2011, over 1,800 permanent staff were employed by members of the CPA and some 13,000 other jobs benefited from the trade. Surveys by the South West tourism board have shown that one of the top three reasons people visit Cornwall is the food and that the Cornish pasty is the food most associated with Cornwall. Swede is sometimes called turnip in Cornwall, but the recipe requires use of actual swede, not turnip.

The type of pastry used is not defined, as long as it is golden in colour and will not crack during the cooking or cooling, and indeed the barley flour that was usually used does make hard dense pastry.

For Pasties sold in the United Kingdom, the Meat Pie and Sausage Roll Regulation 1967 states that Pasties must contain meat that is a minimum 12.75% of the weight of the pastry.

Variations

Although the officially protected Cornish pasty has a specific ingredients list, old Cornish cookery books show that pasties were generally made from whatever food was available. Indeed, the earliest recorded pasty recipes include venison, not beef.

A part-savoury, part-sweet pasty (similar to the Bedfordshire clanger) was eaten by miners in the 19th century, in the copper mines on Parys Mountain, Anglesey. The technician who did the research and discovered the recipe claimed that the recipe was probably taken to Anglesey by Cornish miners travelling to the area looking for work. No two-course pasties are commercially produced in Cornwall today, but are usually the product of amateur cooks. Other traditional fillings have included a wide variety of locally available meats including pork, bacon, egg, rabbit, chicken, mackerel and sweet fillings such as dates, apples, jam and sweetened rice - leading to the oft-quoted joke that 'the Devil hisself was afeared to cross over into Cornwall for fear that ee'd end up in a pasty'.

A pasty is known as a "tiddy oggy" when steak is replaced with an extra potato, "tiddy" meaning potato and "oggy" meaning pasty and was eaten when times were hard and expensive meat could not be afforded. Another traditional meatless recipe is 'herby pie' with parsley, freshly gathered wild green herbs and chives, ramsons or leeks and a spoonful of clotted cream. Some sources state that the difference between a Devon and a Cornish pasty is that a Devon pasty has a top-crimp and is oval in shape, whereas the Cornish pasty is semicircular and side-crimped along the curve. yet those Cornish bakers who favour this method now find that they cannot legally call their pasties "Cornish". Paul Hollywood, writing for BBC Food, stated that a traditional Cornish pasty should have about 20 crimps.

In other regions

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thumb|right|A "Cousin Jack's" pasty shop in Grass Valley, California

Migrating Devonian and Cornish miners and their families (colloquially known as Cousin Jacks and Cousin Jennies) helped to spread pasties into the rest of the world during the 19th century. As tin mining in Devon and Cornwall began to decline, miners took their expertise and traditions to new mining regions around the world. As a result, pasties can be found in many regions, including:

  • Many parts of Australia, including the Yorke Peninsula, which has been the site of an annual Cornish festival (claimed to be the world's largest) since 1973. A clarification of the Protected Geographical Status ruling has confirmed that pasties made in Australia are still allowed to be called "Cornish Pasties".
  • A Lancashire pasty is a traditional variant originating in Lancashire, especially West Lancashire that is similar to its Cornish counterpart but uses carrot instead of swede.
  • Welsh pasties include lamb rather than beef and can also include leek
  • In the US, pasties can be found in California in many historical Gold Rush towns, such as Grass Valley and Nevada City.
  • The pasty has become a cultural symbol of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Pasty shops are a significant tourist attraction in the region. Additionally, the village of Calumet is home to an annual Pasty Festival. Many ethnic groups adopted the pasty for use in the Copper Country copper mines; the Finnish immigrants to the region mistook it for the traditional piirakka and pastries. The pasty has become strongly associated with all cultures in this area and in the Iron Range in northern Minnesota.
  • Mineral Point, Wisconsin, was the site of the first mineral rush in the United States during the 1830s. After lead was discovered in Mineral Point, many of the early miners migrated from Cornwall to this southwestern Wisconsin area. Pasties can be found in Wisconsin's largest cities, Madison and Milwaukee, as well as in the far northern region along the border with Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
  • A similar local history about the arrival of the pasty in the area with an influx of Cornish miners to the area's copper mines, and its preservation as a local delicacy, is found in Butte, Montana, "The Richest Hill on Earth".
  • The anthracite coal region of Northeastern Pennsylvania, including Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, and Hazleton, had an influx of cornish miners to the area in the 19th century and brought the pasty with them. In 1981, a Pennsylvania entrepreneur started marketing pasties under the brand name Mr. Pastie.
  • thumb|A Mexican "[[Paste (pasty)|paste"]]The Mexican state of Hidalgo and the twin silver mining cities of Pachuca and Real del Monte (Mineral del Monte) have notable Cornish influences from the Cornish miners who settled there, with pasties being considered typical local cuisine. In Mexican Spanish, they are referred to as pastes. A pasty museum is located in Real del Monte. The annual International Pasty Festival is held in Real del Monte each October.
  • They are also popular in South Africa, New Zealand, and Ulster.
  • Pasties were modified with different spices and fillings in Jamaica, giving rise to the Jamaican patty.
  • Pasty has been brought to Mashiko, Tochigi, Japan, by Shōji Hamada, who had spent some time with Bernard Leach in Cornwall. It is called "Paasuchii" (ぱぁすちー), with turnip replaced by daikon, a winter radish variety.

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