Cornish Pasties

There are many good things which come from Cornwall, that part of England that looks like the bus driver's feet and lower legs. The beam engine, originally developed for the tin mines was its greatest contribution to the industrial revolution.  Devonian wits would probably mention "the road to Devon".  But foodies would might rave about such delicacies as Cornish Game Hen, Cornish Ice Cream and of course the Cornish Pasty.

But seriously, Cornwall is a wonderful place, although it can get a bit crowded for sure.  The coastline is magnificent and can be hiked relatively easily, if you have a lot of time on your hands. And it has great historical interest, especially if you're into Camelot, King Arthur and all that.

It's one of the Celtic parts of Britain or, to be more precise, Brythonic parts. And there has long been an independence movement, as they definitely do not consider themselves English.  Kernowek (Cornish) struggles to exist, although there are lots of efforts to keep it going.  For all intents and purposes, it went extinct over a hundred years ago but has been "revived". There are six languages that are generally thought of as the (extant) Celtic languages -- in two groups: Goidelic: Scots, Irish and Manx and Brythonic: Welsh, Cornish and Breton.  Given that for much of our human history, travel was easier by boat than over land, it is perhaps not too surprising that Cornwall and Brittany (Bretagne in French) are related culturally and linguistically.  It's not too far in a boat, as we're reminded by the sea shanty Spanish Ladies: From Ushant to Scilly is Thirty-five leagues.  [A league can have various meanings but here probably 3 (nautical?) miles.  In fact, the open-water distance is about 97 nm or 112 miles, not 105 -- perhaps it's no surprise that ships were constantly running aground at one of these spots].  I'm reminded that one day I want to read Barry Cunliffe's book Facing the Ocean.

But I digress.  On Wednesday, Will was coming over for dinner and I wanted to do something British.  I decided on Cornish Pasties, always one of my favorites growing up.  They actually came out remarkably well, although it took over three hours from start to finish (!).  Next time, I need to get the beef ground (rather than cutting it up myself as in the recipe) and I need to make the pieces of potato and rutabaga just a little smaller.  The pastry was remarkably edible, given that I haven't had much experience with pastry.  Not up to my mother's (or mother-in-law's) standards though.  Being in a hurry, I made four huge pasties instead of 8 or 9 more reasonably sized ones.  I couldn't get the pasty to knit together as well as I might, given that the filling was bursting at the seams.  See photo of one of the larger and messier ones (no, it isn't a Cornish game hen, or any other kind of bird).

But my vict.. er. guests enjoyed them, or so they said.  Too bad I can't serve them Steak and Kidney pie!