[Sca-cooks] Medieval History Magazine (was meat pastiesand theirlongevity)

[Edouard de Bruyerecourt]

Caillin wrote:

>The Pyes of Parys article was quite fascinating.   What I found
>interesting was when he made his coffyns he made them in 3 separate
>parts; a bottom part, the side part and then the top.  He pre-baked them
>and then filled them and did a flour- water mixture to seal them.  What
>I am curious about is the need for the sides to be separate.  I have not
>seen any documentation for this and was curious to find out if this was
>indeed period.
>
My deductions are that using the three parts is a more efficient use of 
the pastry, and that it avoids either the thicker folds along the top of 
walls, or the thicker walls and thinner bottom, if you took formed the 
coffin from a large circle. The three piece design makes all three sides 
the same thickness and with the same heating and drying properties.

I don't know how old the 'tin can' style of meat pie coffin as been 
used, but it's fairly ubiquitious in the British Isles and former 
colonies. The original pyes could have been just as easily a pasty 
shaped from one large round of pastry. But, then again, you might run 
into problems with a good seal along the crimped seam.

Might make for an interesting experiement. Make a dozen pies, three each 
of different designs: three-piece 'tin can,' 'tin can' with whole 
bottom/sides, pasty/turn-over, and something else. See how the fare over 
a four week period on the counter, checking for cracks and drying, as 
well as the pastry to filling ratio it took to make each style.

-- 
Edouard, Sire de Bruyerecourt
bruyere at jeffnet.org
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"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, 
while bad people will find a way around the laws." 
- Plato (427-347 B.C.)