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One of the less horrible aspects of British colonialism I guess. Being born a Cornishman I remember my father recounting a somewhat apocryphal tale of a grockl
by danburbridge 8y ago
One of the less horrible aspects of British colonialism I guess.
Being born a Cornishman I remember my father recounting a somewhat apocryphal tale of a grockle* visiting a pub and asking for chips (fries) with his pasty. The landlord looked at him somewhat aghast and asked him if he was sure? The tourist replies that he was hungry and always has chips with his pasty back home.
A little while later the landlord returns with the customers lunch. A small crowd of locals had now appeared as the customer is presented with a a standard 12 inch long pasty occupying the whole plate and a basket of chips. Very sheepishly the customer eats the pasty and eventually the chips, pays and then proceeds to very slowly walk out moaning and groaning.
* Cornish (derogatory) term for a tourist
For those wanting to know the proper Cornish recipe it is simply pastry (rough puff style typically) and declining quantities of potato (shredded), swede (also shredded) and onion (shredded again). Topped with beef (preferably skirt) and seasoned with a little salt and pepper. The pastry is then folded up over the filling and crimped. In the oven for about an hour (for a proper sized pasty)
I have never sat down and worked it out but those bog old handmade pasties must be 2000 calories minimum, certainly it's a struggle to eat anything else... Perfect if you have to spend hours down a mine though.
The crimp was originally not eaten as the miners would want to avoid eating the toxic metals, but those knurls of pastry are one of my favourite things.
Such a shame most pasties sold now are tiny, over seasoned and full of rubbish meat.
- jenscow 8y ago> full of rubbish meat You're exaggerating the amount of meat in them ;-) Most pasties from the supermarket appear to be veg seasoned with meat.
- danburbridge 8y agoIn deed, gives the pasty such a bad name. A homemade pasty and a cup of tea was a Saturday evening ritual after getting back from the beach/out on the boat.
- monk_e_boy 8y agoGrockle is a Devon term. Emmet is Cornish for ant and slang for tourist.
- danburbridge 8y agoDon't remember ever hearing Emmet growing up on Scilly, but heard grockle plenty.
- icebraining 8y agoThe crimp was originally not eaten as the miners would want to avoid eating the toxic metals Toxic metals..?
- zdw 8y agoMines are really dirty, and modern sanitation doesn't exist in them. Having recently gone on a tour of coal mines in eastern Canada, the way it worked was that a miner would put a pasty in their clothes (to keep you and then it warm), take it out and eat it (without washing your hands) when lunchtime came, then threw the crimp end that was covered in dirt/muck to the mine rats.
- icebraining 8y agoOh, ok. I assumed they would just avoid touching it directly, by wrapping it in a cloth or something. EDIT: Like this one, actually :) http://cousinjackspastyco.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/IMG_20120916_152233.jpg http://cousinjackspastyco.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/IMG...
- DanBC 8y agoCornwall's mining industry was mostly tin, but some other metals too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_in_Cornwall_and_Devon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_in_Cornwall_and_Devon > Historically, tin and copper as well as a few other metals (e.g., arsenic, silver, and zinc) have been mined in Cornwall and Devon. There's nowhere to wash your hands down a mine.
- dunham 8y agoInteresting, that would explain why they ended up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (copper mines).
- MisterTea 8y agoThe crimp is like the crust of a pizza, the handle to hold your food if you will. If you didn't have gloves or access to running water and held your pizza by the crust with said hands, would you eat the crust?
- gerdesj 8y agosigh - nearly all true 8) The pasty is widespread across the entire south west of England. To be fair the Cornish one is what most people have heard of (including most Brits). Nominally the modern Cornish version has a side crimp and the Devon version is a top crimp ("dinosaur"). Then there is the Somerset (I live in Yeovil) pasty which cashes in on the real thing! My mum was from near Dartmouth and my step mum is from St Awful. I'm in my late forties and have eaten a lot of pasties of all shapes and sizes. The home made beast that overhangs your plate is the best. The pastry should be made with lard ...
- jahewson 8y agoErm... Mexico was not a British colony. It was Spanish and by 1825 when those miners arrived it was already an independent country.