Savouring Cornwall’S Traditional Food
Cornwall has been a popular holiday destination for many years. North Cornwall's natural beauty, with its rugged coastline and beautiful sandy beaches, makes it the ideal place to spend a week or two in summer, or indeed at any time of year - walking the coastal paths is spectacular whatever the weather. In terms of enjoying the region's best food, too, staying in holiday cottages in Padstow is not restricted to the sunnier months, as good food is available all year round.
Cornwall has long been associated with its local delicacies, among which are the traditional and much-loved Cornish pasty and the strangely named Stargazy Pie.
The famous pasty
The pasty was first mentioned in the 13th century during the reign of Henry III and became very popular in the 16th century. In fact, however, it only really gained its association with Cornwall around two hundred years ago. Pasties have been the staple food of hard working Cornishmen and women for many years, as they satisfied the need of miners and farmworkers to have a portable, nutritious and filling meal in the middle of their working day. They were popular with the poorer working families as they could fill the pasties with easily attainable and cheap ingredients, such as onions, swede and potatoes. In the early day, they were rarely filled with meat and this was a later addition.
If you're staying in one of the holiday cottages in Padstow and pick up a few pasties to take back for a snack, it's interesting to imagine the generations before you who have done the same - convenience food is not a new concept, after all. The pasty made national news in 2011 when it was awarded PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) status in Europe, which means that the name "Cornish Pasty" is protected and can only be used for pasties prepared in Cornwall.
Stargazy Pie
Stargazy Pie is a fish-based alternative to the pasty and almost as famous around these parts. If you stay in one of the lovely holiday cottages in Padstow you are bound to see this quirky dish on a menu before long. It's a pie made from baked pilchards, eggs and potatoes and its appearance is as strange as its name - the heads of the pilchards are left poking out through the pastry top staring towards the stars.
There is a culinary reason for this strange placement as well as an aesthetic one in that the placement of the fish allows the oils to run back into the pie. According to legend, its origins come from the Cornish village of Mousehole in the sixteenth century, when a local fisherman, Tom Bawcock, caught enough fish in stormy conditions to feed the village and save the people from starvation.
Of course, as with most legends there is plenty of other theories as to how and when the Stargazy Pie was first created. Its fame has been captured in literature with Ross and Demelza dining on it in the BBC Mini-series Poldark, which was based on Winston Graham's The Poldark Novels. The children's book The Mousehole Cat by Antonia Barber is based on the legend of Tom Bawcock, and the pie even makes an appearance in the film adaptation of Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach. Trying Stargazy Pie should definitely be on your list of things to do whilst staying in holiday cottages in Padstow.
Whether your traditional snack of choice is a Cornish Pasty or a Stargazy Pie, eating one of them will ensure that you are experiencing a true taste of Cornish history.
Cornwall has long been associated with its local delicacies, among which are the traditional and much-loved Cornish pasty and the strangely named Stargazy Pie.
The famous pasty
The pasty was first mentioned in the 13th century during the reign of Henry III and became very popular in the 16th century. In fact, however, it only really gained its association with Cornwall around two hundred years ago. Pasties have been the staple food of hard working Cornishmen and women for many years, as they satisfied the need of miners and farmworkers to have a portable, nutritious and filling meal in the middle of their working day. They were popular with the poorer working families as they could fill the pasties with easily attainable and cheap ingredients, such as onions, swede and potatoes. In the early day, they were rarely filled with meat and this was a later addition.
If you're staying in one of the holiday cottages in Padstow and pick up a few pasties to take back for a snack, it's interesting to imagine the generations before you who have done the same - convenience food is not a new concept, after all. The pasty made national news in 2011 when it was awarded PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) status in Europe, which means that the name "Cornish Pasty" is protected and can only be used for pasties prepared in Cornwall.
Stargazy Pie
Stargazy Pie is a fish-based alternative to the pasty and almost as famous around these parts. If you stay in one of the lovely holiday cottages in Padstow you are bound to see this quirky dish on a menu before long. It's a pie made from baked pilchards, eggs and potatoes and its appearance is as strange as its name - the heads of the pilchards are left poking out through the pastry top staring towards the stars.
There is a culinary reason for this strange placement as well as an aesthetic one in that the placement of the fish allows the oils to run back into the pie. According to legend, its origins come from the Cornish village of Mousehole in the sixteenth century, when a local fisherman, Tom Bawcock, caught enough fish in stormy conditions to feed the village and save the people from starvation.
Of course, as with most legends there is plenty of other theories as to how and when the Stargazy Pie was first created. Its fame has been captured in literature with Ross and Demelza dining on it in the BBC Mini-series Poldark, which was based on Winston Graham's The Poldark Novels. The children's book The Mousehole Cat by Antonia Barber is based on the legend of Tom Bawcock, and the pie even makes an appearance in the film adaptation of Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach. Trying Stargazy Pie should definitely be on your list of things to do whilst staying in holiday cottages in Padstow.
Whether your traditional snack of choice is a Cornish Pasty or a Stargazy Pie, eating one of them will ensure that you are experiencing a true taste of Cornish history.
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