For filling:

• 250 g lean beef fillet
• 1 large potato
• 1 small turnip (can be substituted for 1 more potato)
• 1 onion
• 4 tbsp. l. meat or chicken broth
• salt, freshly ground black pepper

STEP-BY-STEP COOKING RECIPE

1. From flour, baking powder, salt and 6 tbsp. l. water quickly knead the dough, if necessary add a little more cold water (no more than 3 tablespoons), roll into a ball and refrigerate for 20 minutes-3 hours.


2. While the dough is standing, chop the beef finely, chop the peeled onions, turnips and potatoes into small cubes. Mix everything, add broth, season with salt and pepper.


3. Roll out the dough to a thickness of about 2 mm and use a cup about 12 cm in diameter to cut out circles. Do not use dough trimmings to roll them out a second time (the dough will be tough). Place the minced meat in a heap in the center of each mug and sprinkle with milk. Connect the edges of the dough and pinch them (the patties should resemble a crescent in shape). Lightly brush the dough with milk on top.


4. Bake for about 10 minutes. at 210 ° C, then reduce heat to 170 ° C and bake until tender, 35-45 minutes.

Deli advice
These pies in ancient Cornwall were made meat only on holidays. On weekdays, they were stuffed with a mixture of potatoes, turnips, onions and leeks. And barley flour was added to the dough. The same government official wrote in his report to his superiors: "Despite this poor diet, the children of local hard workers are healthy, strong and blush, look happy and cheerful."

Today we will continue our conversation about the Durrell picnic menu. Truly monumental pastries are on the agenda. Finally! It's amazing that until now I have not had a reason to talk about Cornish pies, and this is such a typical gastronomic phenomenon. And it appears on the pages of English literature with enviable regularity.

In general, pies in our understanding (individual products that are convenient to take in hands, baked without the participation of special forms, in the form of dough with filling) are not a very diverse phenomenon in British culinary culture. And the cakes, called Cornish, are the alpha and omega of British baking. We are talkingpasty - we mean Cornish pastyunless otherwise specifically stated. And the earliest mention of pasties in the literature also refers us to Cornwall. To find it, you need to turn to the work of Chrétien de Trois - the author of the cycle about King Arthur. The first novel of the cycle, Erek and Enida (1160), contains the following lines:

Then Givret orders to file
Meat stuffed pie.
“My friend, the pie is not bad,
Taste, but for a drink
I'll put wine on the table ... "

The original language of the work is Old French, but this does not prevent you from recognizing the baked goods in question. The word is used in the textpastez - it is the Breton equivalent of modern Englishpasty... What about the Cornwall connection? Well, everything is simple here: the novel takes place in the territories that now belong to this county.

Of course, one can find fault with the purity of the example, for Chrétien de Troyes wrote in French. But other authors continue the tradition in a more accessible form for us. Among them is the "father of English poetry" Geoffrey Chaucer, who was at the origins of the English literary language. In his famous "Canterbury Tales" there is also an unfinished "Chef's Tale", and in this story - the pies that interest us. This is somewhere between 1380 and 1390.

Shakespeare also does not do without pies, for example, in "Windsor Ridiculous":

Paige. Wife, ask the gentlemen to dine with us. Please welcome; we have hot venison pie for lunch. Please, gentlemen. Hope we drown all the trouble in wine.

In the English-language text, the word is used to refer to the piepasty... As for venison as a filling, in the old days it was commonplace, because game was an integral part of the daily diet.

These days, Cornish pies have a "classic" composition that leaves little room for improvisation. But this is a relatively new approach to the issue. For centuries, Cornish pies have been known for putting anything in them. According to legend, the Devil never dared to cross the Teimar River, the natural border of Cornwall. He was aware of the custom of Cornish housewives to shove everything into their pies, and he feared not to become the filling himself.

Agatha Christie confirms his fears. At the time when she wrote the novel "Quirk", the alignment clearly had not yet changed:

It is not only the baked ham that should be feared! Be careful with your Cornish pies too. What is not shoved into these pies, and what do you want - a vacation!

In general, Cornish pies have been appearing in English literature since about the 12th century - to this day. They are also found in the "Unofficial Encyclopedia of English Cuisine" - a series of Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire we read:

- We came to cheer for Harry in the last competition! Mrs. Weasley explained, smiling. “I must say, it’s so nice not to cook dinner. How was your last exam?
- Ah ... Order! Ron replied. - I could not remember the names of all the leaders of the rebel goblins, I had to come up with some. (Mrs. Weasley instantly became stern.) It's okay, ”Ron reassured her, placing a substantial Cornish meat pie on a plate. - They all had names like Bodrod the Bearded, Gyrg Gryazny, so it's okay.

Among other benefits, Cornish patties are extremely convenient as a travel food. Nutritious and convenient. And they are able to decorate any outing into nature. Unsurprisingly, Housekeeper Mrs. Durrell included them on her picnic menu. Here I will reiterate the familiar excerpt from Gerald Durrell's The Picnic:

There were curry puffs and Cornish pies, ham pies and a large game pie, three fried chicken, two large loaves of homemade bread, treacle pie, crispy brandy snaps and meringue rolls; not to mention three varieties of homemade jams and chutneys, biscuits, dried fruit muffin and biscuit tart.

But don't think that Cornish pies are a gourmet treat for idle gentlemen. In fact, there is nothing aristocratic about them. This is "harsh" food for the working class, which is convenient to take with you - for example, to the mine. Actually, this was the purpose of these pies for a long time, because Cornwall was famous for its tin deposits. I also came across a story about how one such pie exploded in a mine, but I don't remember the details, and besides, I don't want to scare you!

UPD. Here's a great quote shared by my LJ reader malenkayasmert:

The two women got into an argument about how to properly make Cornish meat pies.
“When my grandfather worked at the Bakshot mine,” said one, “he took such a cake with him every day, which means that my grandmother baked a cake every day. I have kept her recipe, and I know for sure that the filling consisted of meat and potatoes, and a little onion was also added there.
“Well, in my family, a pie wasn’t a pie if they didn’t have turnips in it,” another woman said.
- Never! The first persisted. “My grandmother would rather poison the well than put turnips in a pie.
(Brown Lillian Jackson. "The Cat That Walked Underground")

By the way, if you watched the Poldark series or read the books on which it was filmed, then you can compare its plot with what I am now telling. The action of "Poldark" takes place in Cornwall, and the mines that appear there are just those where the workers were supposed to be fed with Cornish pies. I have not yet gotten to these books for quotations, but even without that it is easy to draw a parallel.

What are Cornish pies? These are products made from coarse shortcrust pastry (in its unsweetened version), in which the filling of meat and vegetables is wrapped. The filling is placed raw in the pies and is cooked through the baking process.

Cornwall patties are never small. Remember, one such pie is a complete miner's lunch. Photo for scale:

Cornish pasties

I will say a few more words about the ingredients used.

Traditionally, the dough for such pies is kneaded with pork fat (lard). It is believed that this makes it crisper, holds its shape better and more effectively resists the pressure of meat juices. But for us, this is a rather exotic ingredient - not one that you buy in any store. The dough on the lard is rather rough, but at the same time, its stiffness is a plus: it is more likely that the pie will survive not too careful transportation in the pocket of a work robe. They even say that Cornish miners initially did not eat dough at all - only the filling, and the flour casing was used exclusively as a container for transportation. In general, historically this is a well-known approach to meat pies, but rather in aristocratic circles. It's hard for me to imagine it in relation to the working people, who should have been more frugal.

From a technical point of view, the closest substitute for lard would be margarine. But with butter, of course, it tastes better. I tried all three options - with lard, margarine and butter - and I can say that the difference is not that great. That is, it is, of course, there, but not such as to specifically go somewhere for fat when the oil is already in the refrigerator. It seems to me that the use of pork fat in modern English recipes is more a tribute to tradition than an objective necessity. In our conditions, I choose butter, because this option seems to me both more affordable and tastier, and, in the end, healthier. The only thing is that with such a replacement, the dough will need a little more water.

As for the filling, four ingredients are traditionally used today: beef, potatoes, onions and rutabaga / turnip. The last point in our realities causes some difficulties. The closest replacement will be turnip - I used it.

An important point is the choice of meat. It should not be too lean or too tough, because it will not have much time to cook. There is a risk that the beef will turn out tough and dry if you choose the wrong piece. Meat intended for a long stewing is not suitable here. It is best to look towards the cuts that are usually made for alternative steaks. This time I took a beef diaphragm, and it worked out great.

Ingredients
(for 3 pies)

Dough:

• 500 g flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 135 g lard (pork fat), margarine or butter
• 75-100 ml ice water

Filling:

• 200 g of beef
• 175 g potatoes
• 125 g turnips
• 160 g onions
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Several slices of butter

For lubrication:

• 1 egg (yolk only)

Preparation

1. First, prepare the dough. Mix flour with salt, add diced cold butter (or the fat that is used: lard, margarine). Using your fingertips, rub butter into flour until you get the consistency of bread crumbs. Add water in the amount required to knead the dough. If lard or margarine is used, 75 ml will most likely be sufficient. In the case of butter, this amount will need to be increased to 100 ml or slightly more. When the dough begins to gather into a lump, form a thick sausage out of it, wrap it tightly with cling film and refrigerate for at least two hours.
2. In the meantime, do the stuffing. The above is the weight of prepared foods - peeled and chopped. Peel the potatoes and turnips and cut into cubes about 1 cm in length. Peel and finely chop the onion. Cut the beef into cubes slightly larger than the vegetables (with a side of 1.5-2 cm). Mix everything well and season generously with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat oven to 200 ° C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
4. Divide the well cooled dough into three equal parts. Roll each into a flat cake with a diameter of 22-25 cm and a thickness of 4-5 mm. Distribute the filling evenly between the three cakes, placing it in the center with a slide. Put a slice of butter on top of each slide.
5. The next step will take some skill. You need to properly seal the pies so that the meat juices don't have a chance to escape. To do this, take one edge of the dough, pull a little and cover the filling with it, not letting it creep too far. Seal the resulting crescent carefully. If after rolling there is a noticeable amount of flour on the dough, the edges of the dough can be slightly (!) Moistened with water before sealing.
6. Finally, decorative work on finishing the seam, which is actually not only decorative, but also practical, as it strengthens the seam and does not allow it to open up during baking. There are several decor options.
   - Classic: fold up the edge with folds, overlap.
   - Alternative: pull up the entire edge evenly, seal it, and then make cuts with a knife (the main thing is not to cut too much) - you get a kind of scallops.
   - Finally, you can just walk along the edge of the cake with a fork - this is both beautiful and practical, and as simple as possible.
7. Place the pies on a baking sheet. Shake the egg yolk with 1-2 tsp. water and a pinch of salt and grease the cakes with this icing. In each cake, use a knife to make a small hole for steam to escape - at the highest point of the cake so that the meat juices do not escape.
8. Bake in a preheated oven for 40 minutes.

They are usually served hot when possible. But cold is also very tasty - it's not for nothing that they are taken with them both to work and to rest.

Impressed by the Cornish pies, which saved us so much in the English cold, I decided to look for a recipe for this delicious dish in order to try to bake it myself. And here's what I came across:

"The famous delicacy threatens to be a pie of contention between Cornwall and Devon."
wrote to the Guardian back in November 2006.

From time immemorial, it was called "Cornish" and was the most famous and profitable item of local export, but recently the historian from neighboring Devon Todd Gray, delving into old accounting books of the 16th century, discovered a very curious recipe between the pages.
He turned to his Cornish colleagues, who confirmed that the earliest known pie recipe dates back to 1746 - that is, it is 200 years younger.
However, the Cornish people, as the newspaper writes, do not intend to give up the palm without a fight.
The author of The Official Encyclopedia of Cornish Pie, Les Merton, argues that although the Devonian record is earlier in time, in Cornwall, recipes have been passed by word of mouth for the past 10 thousand years, so that the recipe generally dates back to the beginning of time.

According to another version, a pie with a coarse crust and a minced meat filling with onions and turnips was invented by the Connuel miners who mined tin ore.
They had nowhere to wash their hands, and to protect themselves from harmful metal, they threw out the crust.

One way or another, experts believe that once it has begun, the culinary battle for the pie will continue for a long time, and more and more celebrities and experts from Devon and Cornwall will be attracted to the battle.

Well, here's the recipe itself:
Dough:
400 gr flour without additives
100 g butter, chilled and finely chopped
100 gr pork fat | lard
milk or beaten raw egg for icing

Filling:
1 medium potato (~ 150 g), peeled and diced no larger than 1x1 cm
150 g rutabaga, peeled and diced no larger than 1x1 cm
450 g meat, cut into small cubes
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
salt pepper

Preparation:
1. Sift flour into a bowl, add oil and fat and stir the mixture with your fingertips until it becomes "bread crumbs". Sprinkle the mixture with 6-7 teaspoons of cold water - this should be enough to bind the dough, and stir the mixture well with a table knife.
2. Place the mixture on a floured surface and knead gently. Wrap the dough with cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts and roll out the cakes with a rolling pin on a floured surface, rolling the dough in only one direction. Turn the cake a quarter turn and roll again, turn and roll until the diameter of the cake reaches 20 centimeters and the thickness is comparable to the thickness of a one-pound coin. Cut an even circle out of the dough, using a plate as a template.
4. Divide the filling ingredients into 4 parts. Place half (from the divided quarter) potatoes and rutabagas in the center of the tortilla. Next - meat, onions and the rest of the potatoes and rutabagas. Season each layer with salt and pepper.
5. Slightly moisten the edges of the dough with water and close the filling in the center, pinching the edges of the dough in a wave shape, while holding the filling with a less active index finger. Blind the remaining pies in a similar way. Put on a baking sheet and put in a cold place for 30 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 180 ° C (gas mark 4), brush with milk or beaten egg and bake for 1 hour until golden brown. They are good both hot and cold.

You can store the patties frozen (as after step 5) and bake as needed and desired.
Fillings can be cheesy, chicken, or sweet.

This recipe is taken

K ornuelle patties ("Cornish pastis") - the traditional food of the miners in the southernmost part of England, now a global brand and business with a multimillion-dollar turnover.

Yes, then in the 17-18 centuries, the miner's wives did not know that in taking care of their breadwinners, they invented universal baked goods - tasty, cheap and satisfying. From the point of view of modern design, the semicircular shape of the pie with a beautiful border around it is very ergonomic. It was quite large, about 20-25 cm in diameter, it could fit enough toppings to fill. The thickness of the dough and its elasticity ensured that the weighty contents would not break through the pies and would remain warm for as long as possible.

During a short break for a snack, the miners had no time to bother washing their hands, so the crimp served as ... a handle-holder. It was thrown away, but even after that, the dry cake residue served its last service. According to legend, in order to appease the underground inhabitants - goblins, they had to leave pieces of the pie.

Such is the wonderful backstory of the Cornish pie.

I recently decided to dare and test my culinary skills on these very Cornish pastis. Well prepared, and asking about the secrets of her friends, she baked her first 4 Cornish pies. And not only she herself was happy to learn to do one, but also to the court of her friend - the "dock" of the pie business. Received 100% "approvals" throughout the entire layout, and now I am sharing with you a recipe for how to make traditional Cornish pies.

5.0 from 1 reviews

For the test you will need

Ingredients

Preparation

1. Making chopped dough:
2. Mix flour and salt in a dough container. Grate margarine or cut with a knife and finely chop into crumbs.
3. 
4. Add cold water (it is better to keep in the refrigerator) and knead the dough until smooth. You do not need to be especially zealous with chopped dough so that the butter does not melt under the warmth of your hands. Put the finished dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
5. 
6. In the meantime, let's get down to stuffing:
7. All vegetables (raw) are thinly, in the size of flakes, cut either with a knife or with a special vegetable cutter attachment. Finely chop the onion. We do the same with meat (raw): cut it into small cubes.
8. 
9. Traditionally, local craftsmen bake 3 types of pies: large, medium and large. The latter can be cut to the size of a large plate, and the dough can be rolled out to a thickness of about 0.5-0.7 ml so that the generously filled pie does not burst.
10. 
11. A pie of this size, and even with so many vegetables and meat, you need to have certain skills to pinch. You can use the first method, putting the filling in the middle, in turn, layering cut vegetables and sliced \u200b\u200bmeat in layers. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
12. 
13. Or in such an ingenious way:
14. 
15. Before proceeding with the special Cornish pint, close the halves of the opposite sides tightly:
16. 
17. Choose any pinching method. By the way, there is no consensus among bakers which method is correct. But it seems to me that this one, as in the photo, is exactly the one with the original "crimp" (pinch):
18. 
19. 
20. Be sure to make cuts in the dough so that the filling is baked and excess moisture comes out. Before planting in the oven, brush the dough with a beaten egg.
21. Or in this way, closer to us - "boat":
22. 
23. OVEN IN OVEN
24. For the first 10-15 minutes, the oven should be in an oven preheated to 220 ° / 200 ° (fan). Cook the remaining 45-50 minutes, reducing the temperature to 160 ° / 180 ° (fan).
25. Cover the baking sheet with parchment. If the top starts to burn, cover the patties with paper.
26. Try these really delicious pies, very beloved not only in England, but also in many other countries, where the miners and their mistresses moved in search of work.
27. Try it, because millions of fans of this pastry cannot be wrong.
28. 
    

My daughter's Cornish cake recipe was suggested by a friend in England. 1. Take a pack of margarine and grate it. 2. Mix grated margarine with 11 (approximately) rounded tablespoons of flour, add a little water to form a fat lump. You don't need to put the finished dough in the refrigerator.

Cooking the filling: cut potatoes, onions and meat into cubes (you can take any meat, but it is tastier when made from pork).

Divide the finished dough into 3-4 parts (we make 4 pies). Roll out a circle from each part as for a cheburek and lay out the filling in the following sequence: potatoes, onions and meat. Salt, pepper and put a small piece of butter on top.

Pinch the edges of the pie tightly, grease with a beaten egg and make a cross-shaped cut on top. We spread it on a baking sheet (we put a sheet of parchment paper and additionally grease it with oil). We put in the oven first at 200C for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 150C and bake until cooked for another 20 minutes. The pies become golden brown and smell for the whole house!

What you should get. Tasty both hot and cold. You can bake one big one or many small ones :)