a traditional pasty (pronounced past-EE, with a soft "a" - opposite of pastry) is very similar to what Brits call "pies"; it's essentially half a pie with some sort of filling inside it. almost like a large unfried empanada, really. you can get all sorts of filling inside, from cheese & bacon to apples and pork, with the basic being the "traditional", which has minced meat (aka ground beef in American-speak) along with onion and potato. pasties originate from Cornwall, and they are actually trying to place a patent on it so that only those made from there can have the label (like Champagne).I dearly luv a pasty,
A 'ot 'n' leaky wun,
Weth taties, mayt 'n' turmit,
Purs'ly 'n' honyun,
Un crus be made with su't,
'N' shaped like 'alf a moon,
Weth crinkly hedges, freshly baked,
E always gone too soon!
the first time i saw the company, i thought they had spelled something wrong. then, when i was queuing to buy one, i sneakily listened to how everyone else was ordering so that i wouldn't say something stupid. thank goodness, because otherwise i would've blurted out "can i get a chicken and veg PASTE-EE please?"sure goes against basic spelling/pronunciation judgment, doesn't it? you'd think that since pastry has a long "a', pasty would be the same...
anyway. i chose to order the steak and stilton pasty (£3.00) from the West Cornwall Pasty Co. today, which you can find pretty much at every large tube station.
the filling was .. decent, i suppose. it was my second time getting it, and both times i was a little let down. they mostly give you loads and loads of onions and potatoes; i barely tasted the cheese, and there was about 4-5 pieces of steak inside. small pieces. :| the crust tasted quite good, but there's a whole lot of it. quite honestly, half the time i barely even got any filling with each bite.
i always get cravings for them for some reason, yet every time i actually DO eat one, all i feel is disappointment. i'm thinking that i might just stick with shepherd's pies for now, and perhaps i'll give the "traditional pasty" a try some time before i leave for home.
West Cornwall Pasty Co.
Unit 11, Main Concourse
London Bridge Station
London, SE1 9SP
