?Is the pasty really Cornish

 

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6 Minute English

?Is the pasty really Cornish

This is not a word-for-word transcript

Neil

Hello This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English I’m Neil

Rob

And I’m Rob

Neil

Fancy a game of ‘food connections’, Rob? I’ll name a place and you say the first

food that comes to mind Ready?

Rob

Yeah, sure, let’s go!

Neil

Italy

Rob

Erm…’pizza’ – or ‘lasagne’

Rob

New York?

Neil

?‘Hot dogs’, of course Or maybe ‘bagels’ How about… Cornwall from the UK

Rob

?If it’s Cornwall, it must be the famous ‘Cornish pasty’, right

Neil

That’s right! Cornwall, the region which forms the south-western tip of Britain, is

as famous for its pasties as New York is for hot dogs In this programme we’ll be

finding out all about Cornish pasties We’ll hear how it’s gone from humble

beginnings to become a symbol of Cornish identity and spread around the world

to Jamaica, Argentina and Brazil

Rob

But what exactly is a pasty, Neil? Somewhere between a pie and a sandwich,

right? A piece of pastry which is turned over and crimped along the side to make

two corners…

Neil

… and filled with different ingredients - which brings me to my quiz question for

today, Rob What is the traditional filling in an authentic Cornish pasty? Is it:

a) Chicken, avocado and brie

b) Beef, potato and turnip

c) Pork, onion and chorizo

Rob

Well, chorizo is Spanish isn’t it? And avocado with brie doesn’t sound

traditionally Cornish, so I’ll say b) beef, potato and turnip

Neil

OK, Rob We’ll find out later if you were right What’s for sure is that the Cornish

pasty has had a long history as BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme discovered

They spoke to Dr Polly Russell, a public life curator at the British Library Here

she is reading from one of the earliest mentions of pasties from the late 17th

century:

Polly Russell, Public Life Curator, British Library

There’s a lovely bit here where he’s describing what a housewife in Hertfordshire

does and he’s talking about her way to make pork pies and pork pasties: pies may

be made and baked either raised in paste earthen pans or in pewter dishes or in

the shape of a turnover, two-cornered pasties So that’s a very early reference to

a pasty in the shape, I think, that we know it but also being made specifically for

labourers - to be feeding labourers on a farm at harvest time

Rob

The earliest pasties were made in pewter dishes – a traditional cooking plate

made of a silver-coloured metal called ‘pewter’

Neil

And they were eaten by agricultural labourers – workers doing physical farm

work during harvest time – the weeks in autumn when crops like wheat are cut

and collected from the fields

Rob

But it wasn’t only farmers and labourers who ate pasties As well as its farms and

fishing, Cornwall was famous for tin mines, as Ruth Huxley of the Cornish Pasty

:Association explains

Ruth Huxley, Cornish Pasty Association

Pasties would have been eaten by lots of people who went to work but it just

worked perfectly down mines, and Cornwall became the world capital of mining

And so lots of pasties were made, lots of pasties were eaten and then that mining

community went all over the world and took the pasty with them

Neil

Pasties were eaten by hungry workers involved in the mining industry - digging

up materials such as coal or metals like gold, or in Cornwall tin, from the ground

Rob

So far we’ve been talking about Cornwall But you said the Cornish pasty has

spread around the world, Neil How did that happen?

Neil

Well, that’s connected to the tin miners we just talked about Here’s Polly Russell

:again

Polly Russell, Public Life Curator, British Library

This is replicated, not just in Mexico but with migrants moving to America, to

Minnesota, to Canada, to Australia So anyone who travels to many of those

places now will see foods which are incredibly reminiscent and familiar and just

like Cornish pasties

Neil

In the 19th century, many Cornish tin miners emigrated, moving abroad to start a

better life Their pasty recipes were replicated – or copied exactly, in the new

places where they landed, from America to Australia

Rob

And that’s why in many places around the world you can find food which is

reminiscent of pasties – meaning it reminds you of something similar, in this case

the original Cornish pasty… with its traditional filling of… what’s was your quiz

question again, Neil?

Neil

Ah, yes I asked you what the traditional Cornish pasty filling was? You said…

Rob

I said b) beef, potato and turnip

Neil

And you were right! ‘Keslowena’, Rob – that’s Cornish for ‘congratulations’!

Rob

‘Heb grev’, Neil – that’s ‘no problem’!

Neil

In fact those other fillings – chorizo, avocado and brie - really did feature in

pasties entered for this year’s Annual World Pasty Championships, held in

Cornwall every spring Other pasty-inspired ideas include Argentinian

chimichurri empanadas and spicy Jamaican patties

Rob

So the pasty is still going strong, both in Cornwall and around the world

Neil

Today we’ve been discussing Cornish pasties – a kind of filled pastry from the

south-west of England, originally made in pewter dishes – a silver-coloured

metal dish

Rob

Pasties were eaten by agricultural labourers – farm workers bringing in the

autumn harvest – the time when crops are cut and collected from the fields, and

also by workers in the tin mining industry – digging up metals like tin from

underground

Neil

Later, when these miners emigrated to new lands, pasties were replicated –

cooked again in the same way

Rob

In fact Cornish miners moved to so many new countries that today, almost every

corner of the world has food reminiscent of – or reminding you of, the original

Cornish pasty

Neil

That’s all for today Join us again soon for more topical discussion and

vocabulary on 6 Minute English Bye for now!

Rob

Bye

VOCABULARY

pewter dishes

traditional dishes made from a silver-coloured metal called pewter

labourers

people who do physical work, especially outdoors

harvest

the time of year when crops like wheat or barley are cut and collected from the

fields

mining

digging up materials such as coal, diamonds or metals like gold and tin from the

ground

replicated

done again in exactly the same way

reminiscent (of)

making you remember a particular person, place or thing

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