[Sca-cooks] cornish pies

[Stefan li Rous]

<<< I thought part of the deal with pasties was that the dough was not  
to be
eaten.  Rather it was to contain the inside when the workers left home  
they
could take them with them and then at meal time crack it open and eat  
the
insides, discarding the pastry.  Am I thinking too modern?  I also  
remember
reading that the pastie would contain the whole meal, including a  
"dessert"
end - usually cooked fruit.  Again, maybe I"m thinking too modern -  
miners.

Shoshanah >>>

As discussed on this list in the past, from the meat-pie-msg file in  
the Florilegium:
meat-pies-msg    (158K) 11/13/08  Period meat pies. Recipes.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-MEATS/meat-pies-msg.html

 >   In 1300, pasties are mentioned in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, The
 > Cook’s Tale.  “All of pasties be the walls of flesh, of fish, and  
rich
 > meat.”  And it appears the cook was a rogue who reheated his  
pasties and
 > pies.  But though this proves the term to be in use, there is  
nothing in
 > the wording to indicate that these were of the Cornish variety.
 >
 >  In July 1537, one John Hussee sent to Queen Jane Seymour “three  
pasties
 > of the red deer, caused to be baked without lard.  “I trust this  
pasty
 > reached (thee) in better condition than a pie of partridge sent
 > before.”  History assures us that the pasty did her no great harm  
even
 > though, according to a researcher, she was in France at the time.   
One
 > could more easily conclude that it was a pasty that was sent, for no
 > other dish was so notoriously famous for its durability.
 >
 >  If the idea of wrapping things in pastry came with the Romans,  
then it
 > is most likely that that is when the Cornish began the habit because
 > people looked for ways of adding grain to their sad diets.  In the  
case
 > of Cornwall, this pastry was usually barley pastry and filled with
 > pilchards, eel, other fish and whatever else presented itself and not
 > much of that.
 > >
 > The Cornish Pasty of history is more of a particular design than of
 > content.  Barley pastry rolled out round, filled with whatever was at
 > hand, folded in half and sealed with a fancy thick roll that went the
 > length of it.
 >   The dough was so hard, it was practically inedible. The men carried
 > them in their shirts! Jokes were made of how many fathomes they  
could be
 > dropped in the mine before breaking. But function was the key here.  
They
 > were portable lunch boxes for the miners and the farmers.
 >
 > Mining has been going on in Cornwall since before the Celts in 1000  
BC.
 > The tin ore  being mined contained arsenic, the roll provides a  
handle
 > which was then thrown away to the mine rats. If they began taking
 > pasties of that design into the mines when they went underground in
 > 1500, then its not too big a step to presume that they weren't  
invented
 > over night.
 >
 > Lady Lyddy Arundel an Gurnows
 > Arizona Cornish

There is more as well, including replies to this message.

Stefan

--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/marksharris
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****