Proper Pasty Company 10th Birthday!

2009 has been a huge year for us, not only have we relocated to brand new premises, opened 3 new outlets and started an Academy for Retailing excellence… it’s also our 10th Birthday!

Life began 10 years ago in August 1999, when our founder John Worrall took the plunge to leave corporate life and bring a piece of Cornwall to Sheffield…Pinstone Street to be precise and since then the Proper Pasty Empire has thrived and expanded across the UK, with our most remote locations established in Bath and Newcastle it is our aim to fill in the gap between.  Life has changed since those unchartered days in the 1990’s, since opening what is now our flagship shop in the heart of Sheffield.

Over the years we have developed many new Cornish Pasty retailing concepts along the way serving the very best Cornish wares to the general public, workers in the workplace and students in Universities.  Our mission is to take the Cornish Pasty to every corner of the UK over the next 10 years…just watch us!

Our fleet of Catering Vans has now grown to 6 vehicles, the very best in mobile catering technology delivering Cornish Pasties and a whole variety of hot & cold snacks to the remote workplace in and around South Yorkshire.  By delivering consistent quality in food and a reliable daily service which serves customers at the same time each day, we have been able to grow the Proper brand beyond the High Street.

A great product range, customer focused growth and friendly staff have been the basis to our ten year growth so far, our plans for 2010 through to 2020 are much the same, we will continue to speculate, innovate and titivate to establish the Proper Pasty brand as the leading Cornish Pasty retailer in the UK!

Pasty Recipe – Proper Pasty Ingredients

Putting aside the geographical debate of the Cornish Pasty and the efforts of the Cornish Pasty Association for a moment, we thought we’d focus about more important things, like the great pasty recipe debate that meets similar challenge and change around the World.  CPA deem that there are minimum characteristics that a pasty should meet if it is to be called a Cornish Pasty, refer to the Cornish Pasty Association definition here…

When we consider a proper Pasty Recipe we consider a recipe that has survived the test of time in it’s home land, a true Cornish Pasty through and through, whos recipe has been passed down through generations and still manages to draw a craving time and time again.  The very best pasties evoke memories of Cornish holidays, palm trees, surfing and Cornish Ale!  What memories do pasties muster up for you when you catch that unmistakeable aroma?  With over 25 flavours of Proper Cornish Pasties on offer where do you start? Well, the traditional Cornish Steak Pasty is perhaps the Worlds best known variety which is associated with everything Cornish so here’s our very own version of the famous recipe, which is our best seller bar none:-

Steak Pasty Recipe (Authentic Cornish)

Ingredients

1. The very best Chuck Steak (trimmed lean)
2. Cornish Farmed Potates
3. Cornish Farmed Swede
4. Cornish Farmed Onion
5. Pastry (either short crust or flaky to suit taste)
6. Salt
7. Pepper  (for seasoning)
8. Egg Yolk (for basting, from Cornish Reared Hens!)
9. Our additional secret seasoning!

The Cornish Recipe

Cut the chuck steak into small cubes and during the process trim any fat that may be apparent. Traditional Cornish Pasties contain steak chunks and not minced steak. Dice the potato and swede into 1/4 inch squares or slightly smaller, some recipes suggest that the potatoes and swede are sliced, in our opinion diced is the best and adds to the appetising experience.

Roll out the pastry to a thickness that suits your palete, normally we aim to achieve a pastry thickness in the region of 1/4 inch, this should be rolled over a marble or wooden baking board which is lightly dusted with flour. Once the desired pastry thickness is achieved then take a small round saucer (from a tradional English Tea service) and cut out a suitable amount of circles.

Again, to suit your taste, take a handful of mixed diced vegetables and layer into the centre of the pastry circle (remembering to allow enough grab to fold over the pastry and crimp, usually supporting the edge of the pastry with a rolling pin is a great guide) then take a similar measure of the diced steak and layer on top of the vegetables.

This hand layering is a traditional method of pasty creation, some cooks insist on mixing the ingredients together resulting in a mush of vegetables and steak…not to the original recipe! Part of the hand layering process is combined with seasoning and a pinch of salt mixed with a comfortable sprinkle of finely crushed pepper offers that unmistakeable Cornish Pasty flavouring that we all love and know!

Next the Crimping of the Pasty! There is an art to crimping a Cornish Pasty, some crimp on top like a stegasaurus dinosaur, whilst others crimp to the side. In true Cornish style and as seen in photograph accompanying this post the side crimp is preferred.

Then in keeping with Cornish tradition the crimping is finished off with a characteristic knot…this is rumoured to keep the devil away and is a part of the Cornish Pasty that is rarely consumed. The knot was created by the wives of the tin miners as a point to grip the pasty, in order to remove the risk of arsenic from the tin transferring to the pastry and thereafter to the poor miner.

Anyway, the crimp should be as uniform and as tight as possible in order to create a tight seal to contain the steam. Some refer to this as a small pressure cooker, as the moisture from the vegetables is released within the pastry case during the bake-off process.

Once the crimping is finished and the characteristic knot is tied in, a small prick to the surface of the pastry is made to provide an outlet for the steam during cooking.

A baste with egg mix should be applied to the strength of a very dilute orange squash colour, this will turn golden and glow in the oven as the process unfolds.

Place the pasties onto a baking tray and send to a pre-heated oven at 200 deg C for 40 minutes, removing ten minutes before the end to add a final glaze of baste to colour.

In general a pasty when cooked should weigh in at approximately 290 grammes as a general rule of thumb!  Let us know what your favourite pasty recipe is or alternatively why not make a suggestion for other flavours or recipes for us to consider for Pasty of the Month, make a comment in the box below.

For more Pasty Recipes please take a look at these links below:-

Waitrose Pasty Recipe
Connies Pasty Recipe
Cook UK Pasty Recipe
BBC Pasty Recipe
Delias Pasty Recipe
Pasty Recipe

Cornish Pasty in the News – Voyage of the Mystery

1854 saw the end of an era in Cornish territories, the tin mining industry, which had been responsible for creating a population of mining families and settlers from wider shores, were in a state of collapse.  An exodus ensued, and the miners began to seek alternative sources of income. For one team of 7 ex-tin miners an adventure had begun at the Star Inn in Newlyn.  The decision was to embark on a journey to seek fortunes mining gold in foreign territories.

The 114 day voyage would take the crew from Penzance in Cornwall to Melbourne in Australia aboard a Cornish Lugger called the Mystery. The Mystery was built in Newlyn for mackerel diving and her overall length was 36 feet, with 32 feet of keel, 11 feet beam, drawing 6 feet of water and tonnage 16.  The Mystery was widely believed to be a fishing boat converted to a sailing yacht, the first voyage of it’s kind in an unorthodox vessel.

The famous voyage has recently been passaged by a British adventurer named Pete Goss together with his 14 year old son.  After setting sail in November the crew arrived in Williamstown, Melbourne on 9th March 2009.  Sailing in an exact replica of the Mystery, Pete Goss (an ex Royal Marine) took 116 days to complete the epic journey.  At the end of the journey the four man crew were greeted in Williamstown with a Cold Beer and a Cornish Pasty !

Cornish News: St Pirans Day – 5th March

St Piran is the Patron Saint of Tin Miners and is also generally acknowledged as the National Saint for Cornwall, the Cornish flag which is a white cross on a black background is the St Pirans flag.

Legend: St. Piran lit a fire on his black hearthstone, which was evidently a slab of tin-bearing ore. The heat caused smelting to take place and tin rose to the top in the form of a white cross (thus the image on the flag).

Someone who is as ‘drunk as a Perraner’ is a description of a merry maker who has consumed large amounts of alcohol whilst celebrating St. Pirans Day, a traditional Cornish celebration adopted by the tin miners of Cornwall representing an official local holiday.  The only real tradition associated with this celebration is the consumption of large amounts of alcohol and food, mainly locally produced Cornish Pasties in their thousands!

On occassion employers have treated this as an official bank holiday in acknowledgement and support of the historic date. The 6th of March is known to be another unofficial holiday due to the amount of sore heads that are being nursed after the merriment!

Further afield in the USA, St Pirans day is celebrated in similar style but with a twist, “Tossing the Pasty” is a St Pirans Day Pastie Olympics Event which involves a Cornish Pasty being flung at a St. Pirans Flag which is usually sited some 200 meters away on the ground, nearest the flag wins and the lucky local dogs get to enjoy the remaining crumbs! The best two out of three pastie tosses gets the trophy.

St Piran’s Day started as one of the many tinners’ holidays observed by the tin miners of Cornwall. Other miners’ holidays of a similar nature include Picrous Day and Chewidden Thursday. There is little description of specific traditions associated with this day. However, many observers noted the large consumption of alcohol and food during ‘Perrantide’. The day following the St Piran’s Day was known by many as ‘Mazey Day’, a term which has now been adopted by the revived Golowan festival in Penzance. The phrase ‘drunk as a perraner’ was used in 19th century Cornwall to describe people who had consumed large quantities of alcohol.

a wikipedia extract

Proper Pasty Catering Van

Proper Pasty Company have been distributing Cornish Pasties, Sandwiches and other lunchtime meals to the remote workplace for over 6 years now.

As we have expanded our fleet of vehicles our image, message and product offer has evolved to reflect the changes in tastes and service.  The remote workplace is no less demanding than the city centre trade and we feel that it is our duty to deliver the very best in food quality to out of town businesses, why should they accept anything less?

With the new Dyna chassis we have the capabilities to double our stock for sales, this means that by clever stock management methods we can ensure that we can provide customers with an abundance of fresh products whether they are at the beginning or at the end of the round!  Our extensive range of food products caters to all tastes and nutritional leanings, hot or cold, vegetarian or health fanatic!

With the expansion of our fleet we have also convinced other licensed operators and food businesses to extend the reach of their high street shops to the remote workplace.  Our quality food to the workplace pledge is spreading across the network with the latest addition to our licensed operator in Yarm who have just invested in their second catering van after the first was so successful.

The Proper Pasty catering vans serve the following products:-

Hot Products

• Cornish Pasties (in a variety of flavours)
• Sausage Rolls
• Jacket Potatoes
• Sausage and Cheese Turnovers
• Savoury Chicken & Bacon Slices / Steak Slices
• Calzones
• Pocket Pies
• Bacon Sandwiches / Sausage Sandwiches
• Weekly Specials…Shepherds Pie / Sausage Casserole / Curry & Rice

Cold Products

• Fresh Sandwich Wedges ( Meat / Seafood / Vegetarian)
• Salad Boxes
• Fruit Salad Boxes
• Yoghurt
• Loose Fruit
• Milk
• Bottled Soft Drinks

Snack Products

• Crisps in a variety of flavours
• Chocolate Bars
• Muffins
• Cakes

The product offer changes from week to week according to weather and specials that we create especially for the catering vans.  In addition we also change the Pasty of the Month in line with our retail shops, this extensive offer enables us to capture more custom and reatin their loyalty.

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