The Origin of the
Pasty In the year 1510, at Tavistock Abbey in Devon, a monk wrote down the recipe for a meal involving Venison and Vegetables all cooked together in a pastry case. (Venison in those days was any game meat such as Deer, Hare, Boar etc)
So the Devon Pasty was created. Over time Devon and Cornish women would adopt this ‘all in one meal’ for their working miners, fishermen or farming labour.
What you will need:
PASTRY 450/500 g Plain Flour
230/250 g Lard (or Half Lard - Half Butter)
Pinch of Salt (Salt & Pepper to taste)
1/2 cup Cold Water
A Small Egg ( for an eggwash)
FILLING 340g ‘Venison’
(nowadays beef skirt or chuck steak)
1 Large Raw Potato
200g Raw Turnip or Swede (Swede is a Swedish Turnip)
1 Large Onion
1 tsp Clotted Cream each pasty (or Butter)
1 tbs black pepper
Method
1. The Pastry: Cut the fat into small lumps, then rub it into the flour ~ do not overwork.
2. Add the salt and then start adding the water gradually until it works together into a ball without being sticky.
3. Set aside in a cool place.
4. The Filling: Cut the meat into small pieces but do not mince.
5. Cut potato into, small pieces about 2.5 cm across, and the Turnip into 2cm pieces and chop the onion finely. (Turnip is denser than potato)
6. Mix the Meat and Veg together seasoning with the Pepper. 7. Dust a work surface with flour & roll out the pastry to 5or 6mm thickness.
8. Using a 18-20 cm plate cut out circles. Moisten the edge with eggwash.
9. On the middle, place the mixture ~ but do not overfill.
10. Sprinkle sparingly with salt, then add the 1 tsp of the Clotted Cream (or butter).
11. Fold the edges upward to form a semicircle parcel and gently pinch the edges together at the top (just enough to hold the parcel shut).
12. Starting at the one side, use your first finger and thumb, using both hands, turn the edge over to form a crimp. (See Video)
13. Repeat this process along all the edge, ensuring a good seal.
14. Brush pasty with beaten egg wash to help with browning process and put a small cut in the top to allow steam to escape.
15. Bake at 200CFan for about 20 minutes then reduce temperature to 150CFan for a further 40 minutes.
Variations
Although technically you can substitute any Meat as part of the filling, the best meats in modern times tend to be Beef, Lamb and Venison. The addition of herbs and/or spices can compement the mix... (Lamb + Mint or Beef + Curry Spices).
Vegitarian or Vegan Pasties are also popular (Curried Vegatable for instance) These can be found via a Website Search So is it still a Devon Pasty?
Of course not ~ it becomes a ******* Pasty and not a true Original Devon Pasty (where ******* is the Filling or Region in which you make it)
