Cornish Pasty Recipe

Cornish pasty, actually pasty, is one of the popular pastries/dishes of British cuisine. Although it is made all through UK, it is often called cornish pasty because it originates from the town of Cornwall. Pasty, in my opinion, is a pastry that is similar to many dishes, but differs from these dishes with a few features.

The first association it brings to me is empanada. They have the same shape. But one pasty is about in the size of two empanadas, maybe even three. Also, in meat empanadas, ground beef is used instead of chopped beef.

The second dish that comes to my mind is fıççın, which belongs to the Circassian cuisine. It is prepared with ground beef and baked whole in one piece, not in small pieces like pasty. But logically they are the same.

Another dish it reminds me of is quiche. Although ground beef is preferred instead of chopped beef in meat quiche, they are very similar as they combine buttery dough and meat.

After listing these similarities and differences, I cannot help but mention the two features of pasty, one of the first foods that come to mind when it comes to British cuisine, unique. The first of these features is the use of half and half lard along with butter for the dough. Since lard is 100% fat, it makes the dough more crunchy. Instead of lard, you can also use ghee. But I preferred a different method. I used almost all butter and added a very small amount of olive oil. It gave perfect results as it allowed me to obtain a dough that was both greasy and crispy and did not break when shaped.

The second feature of pasty is that a type of turnip called swede or rutabaga is used in its filling. You can understand better by searching on Google images, but to summarize, while the classic turnip is more-white in color, the white part of turnip is more yellowish in rutabaga. Likewise, when peeled, it is also yellow inside. It has a slightly sweet flavor and if a more easily available vegetable is to be used instead of rutabaga, the most suitable alternative would be carrots.

I don't know if it is available in Turkey or what its name is. I came across it by chance in an ecological market in Spain, and in order not to miss this opportunity, I bought the best one available, even if they were shriveled. In my opinion, it is not an essential ingredient in terms of taste, but I wanted to follow the original recipe. But something happened that I thought was just to show how futile my effort was, and I forgot to add onions. Of course, I add it to the recipe. You won't just see it in the video. I wanted you to know the reason for the difference.

For the meat, generally brisket is preferred, but if you can't find it, tenderloin will also work. Just make sure you chop it small enough so it cooks well. Likewise, vegetables need to be chopped into small pieces as well. Not only the egg yolk, but the whole egg is whipped and brushed on the dough. This prevents the top from browning too soon and allows it to bake for a longer time. To prevent the pasties from cracking and exploding while baking, two slits are opened to allow steam to escape. This stage is also very important.

Finally, there is something I cannot help but say. I don't know what the British would think about this, but ayran goes very well with pasties.

Enjoy your meal...

Enjoy your meal...