EU Award Protected Food Status to Cornish Pasties

Pasty munchers in Cornwall are wiping the crumbs from their keyboards and spreading their breaking news – the Cornish Pasty has joined a select group of protected foods, including Arbroath Smokie, Stilton cheese, Jersey Royal Potatoes and Kentish Ale, and has been awarded “protected food” status by the European Union.  You can download a list of UK protected foods here (pdf)

The EU ruling will comes into force during March  and means that only pasties made to a rigid recipe made in Cornwall can now be marketed as Cornish Pasties.

Cornwall applied to the EU for Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) for its pasties in 2002 followed by a governmental petition in 2007, and now they have won their bid.

High street bakeries such as Greggs who sell millions of pasties every year will now have to rename the savoury snacks as they are not made in Cornwall. Greggs intend to organise a Facebook campaign to find an alternative name for their pasties.

Alan Adler, chairman of the Cornish Pasty Association said: “By guaranteeing the quality of the Cornish Pasty, we are helping to protect our British food legacy.

“We lag far behind other European countries like France and Italy, that have hundreds of food products protected, and it’s important that we value our foods just as much. Today’s announcement does not stop other producers from making other type of pasties but they won’t be able to sell them as ‘Cornish’.”

To qualify as “Cornish Pasties”, they must be made in Cornwall, have the distinctive “D” shape and be crimped on one side, not the top.

The filling must be “chunky” and made up of uncooked minced or roughly cut chunks of beef, swede, potato, and onion.

The pastry must be golden, glazed with milk or egg and robust enough to retain its shape throughout the cooking and cooling process.

Munch on!