Chickpeas Controversial Cornish Pasties.

I may get thrown out of Cornwall for this but I will argue the point that these are Cornish Pasties.  They are made by a born and bred Cornish person in Cornwall, so in my books that makes them Cornish pasties.  They may not contain the 'official' contents of a pasty, but my theory is that pasties were a poor mans food so they were made with whatever they had available.

So as I made pasties for us today I thought I would give you a peak inside mine.  Shhh don't report me to the pasty police! As most of my family is veggie my pasties do not contain 'skirt' (the cut of beef usually used)  They vary slightly from person to person which is why we always put initials on top so you know whose is whose, and mine is made from gluten free pastry which is why it has a big 'patch' on it where the pastry didn't hold together.  They contain potato, grated carrot and turnip (the big yellow ones which you may know as swede) finely chopped onion, grated cheese, some chilli flakes and of course pepper.  Oh and I make them with bought puff pastry!!!  They have proper crimping which is on the side of course and taste bleddy 'ansome as we say in Cornwall.  I like mine with ketchup and a pickled onion, the bearded one prefers brown sauce and a tomato, each to their own.  My Australian cousins who were taught how to make them by their Cornish mum, cut the top off and put butter and vinegar in it!  Now that is going too far :) My dad always had a sugary tea with his pasty, even though he didn't have sugar any other time.  They are the perfect  'fast food' and every town in Cornwall has a pasty shop, but of course they are not as good as home made. Avoid a certain make of pasty sold all over the country (the name starts with G) they give pasties a bad name.

 Legend has it that they were made for miners to take underground for their 'croust' (packed lunch).  They held them by their crust which they threw away afterwards because they would be dirty and even dangerous to eat as the mines contained arsenic which would get on their hands.  Well that's what we are told but of course we know the crusts were left for the 'knockers' who live down the mines.

They have to be big enough to stick out either end of a dinner plate.

My gluten free pasty needed a bit of first aid.

 I'm pleased with the way my gluten free pasty turned out, I seem to have cracked the gluten free pastry challenge.  We are being posh and eating it off a plate with a knife and fork, of course the usual way of eating them is in your hand.

Hope you have all had a good weekend.

Chickpea xx