UK's new national dish?

[Gob]

Will the Chicken Balti Pasty become Britain's favourite food?

By Luke Salkeld
Last updated at 7:11 PM on 16th August 2010


The Cornish pasty is probably Britain’s oldest take away, while curry is the country’s favourite.

So it was probably only a matter of time before the two were combined.

And this week will see the first sales of the Chicken Balti Pasty.



Ginsters, a firm famous for selling the Cornish delicacy, has developed the new £1.99 snack to appeal to new tastes.

It consists of chicken marinated in a spicy balti sauce with fresh potato and onion, wrapped in light puff pastry.

A spokesman for Ginsters said the company’s previous experience of tinkering with the traditional pasty recipe had inspired them to ‘find more tantalising flavours’ and ‘a variety of tastes’.

He continued: ‘Chicken Balti, whilst not originally being a British flavour, is very much an indication of what has become a traditional British taste.

’With the nation’s palettes moving ever more towards the spicy end of the spectrum, we’re keen to embrace stronger flavours, infused with our own original Ginsters’ recipes and quality local ingredients, to create a contemporary flavour.’

Most experts believe pasties have been around since the 18th century when tin miners first took them underground for their lunch, using the thick crust as a handle.

The recipe has remained largely unchanged ever since and could soon gain protected EU status as a semicircular package of pastry filled with beef, sliced potato, swede and onion.

Ingredients for the new version include chicken, red pepper, tomato, jalapenos, garlic puree, basil, and oregano.

And a special seasoning for the Chicken Balti consists of a range of Eastern spices such as coriander, turmeric, cumin and cardamom.

The spicy take is just the latest controversy to hit the Cornish staple.

Historian Todd Gray recently caused major upset when he claimed to have found a recipe for a Devon pasty in 1510 - more than 230 years before the first Cornish written reference to the snack.

The neighbouring county later hit back citing the Official Encyclopaedia of the Cornish Pasty which claimed pasty recipes have been handed down by word of mouth in Cornwall since 8,000BC.

Last year a pasty made in Devon caused outrage after it won the top title in a Cornish pasty competition.

The winning firm, Chunk of Devon, was only allowed to enter the category at the British Pie Awards because of an administrative mix-up.

Last year research claimed that every part of Britain has a specific ‘taste dialect’ forged by its local culture, geography and environment.

According to the study people in the Midlands love curries because the region’s taste dialect is for soft foods that impact the front of the tongue, have a slightly sweet dimension and can be eaten with the hands - such as naan.

The survey of 13,000 people discovered that those in the South-West are unusually receptive to sweet flavours - such as the apples which are often used as a secret ingredient in Cornish pasties.

Scots like rich, creamy foods that are comforting and linger on the palate.

Wales has an industrial past and strong-tasting foods that have cut through the dirt and grime for those working in the mines have always proved popular - such as onions, leeks and Worcestershire sauce.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z0woUF95hE

[Crackpot]

Pasties Must remember to grab one thursday.

[BoSoxGal]

I already tinker with the traditional pasty recipe when making it for myself/friends - the traditional is way too bland. Indian spices is a great idea!

[Gob]

There's a place in St Ives Cornwall, which makes "Curried Parsnip Pastys".

It's a wonder the "Cornish Nationalists" haven't burned it down yet.

[Daisy]

Curies Parsnip Pasty sounds lush.

I'm gonna try baking those this weekend.

[Jay Tea]

This is just stupid. Balti pies have been available at football grounds for 20 years, curry pasties of various kinds have been available for as long as I can remember - I had a curry bridie in Glasgow nearly 30 years ago FFS! The West Cornwall Pasty Co. and The Cornish Bakehouse have had chicken curry on the menu for years. Even Ginsters have been making curry chicken slices since forever

[Gob]

What do Ginsters have to do with pasties?

[@meric@nwom@n]

When I think Pasty I always think of genuine Cornish Pasties made in Georgia.
http://www.cornishpastys.com/
http://www.cornishpastys.com/menu2.pdf

[Gob]

Cor @-W, that place is a veritable cornucopia of delights..

British Dish of the Day:

Sunday:

Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding, Peas and Carrots, Roast Potatoes and Gravy

Monday:

Bangers and Mash with Onion Gravy

Tuesday:

Roast Pork Loin, Vegetables, Roast Potatoes and Apple Gravy

Wednesday:

Beef Hot Pot and Bread

Thursday:

Chicken Curry and Rice

Friday:

Toad in the Hole, Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Peas and Carrots

Saturday:

Corned Beef, Cabbage, Carrots and Potatoes

[Gob]

Here's a cracker of Eurolunacy!

The European Commission is drawing up guidelines on the permitted ingredients of the traditional West Country lunch, so that it can be given the same protected status as other regional specialties such as Melton Mowbray pork pies.

Officials have decreed that only minced or diced beef, sliced potato, onion and swede are allowed to fill the pastry.

However the Cornish are unusual in referring to swede as turnip, even though they differ markedly. The former is white with a sharp taste while the latter is orange with a more earthy flavour.

Because of this linguistic quirk, the regulations have been amended to allow either term to be used on the label although only one of the two is allowed in the pasty.

This will mean that genuine Cornish pasties will be allowed to go on sale advertised as containing turnip, but will break the rules if they actually do contain the rogue root vegetable.

William Dartmouth, UKIP MEP for the South West said: “It just goes to prove that anyone who tries to micro-manage the rich heritage of this country is simply asking for trouble.

“Distant Eurocrats will never understand the quirky intricacies of life in the UK, the local language and customs that have grown up over centuries.

“The case of the phantom turnip is only the latest in a long line of food-related chaos inflicted on us by Europe. It’s time they learnt their lesson and gave us all a break.”

The draft regulations giving Protected Geographical Indication status to the Cornish pasty, published last month and due to come into force in January, specify that the product must be D-shaped and crimped on one side, “never on top”.

The EC regulation on the Cornish pasty, number 510/2006, goes on to explain that the crust was used as a handle by miners and farmworkers who became its main consumers by the 19th century.

It notes: “Traditionally, in Cornwall ‘swede’ is referred to as ‘turnip’ so the two terms are interchangeable, but the actual ingredient is ‘swede’.”

European Commission spokesman Albena Dimitrova-Borisova said: “It will be for the control authorities in the UK to put in place the necessary enforcement, ensuring the product is produced in conformity with the specification, not least for the ingredients.

“They must have the necessary technical knowledge as a condition to be able to certify a product or process. An appreciation of the local name for a key ingredient should be part of that.”

The Cornish Pasty Association, which represents the county’s traditional bakers, applied for protected status for the delicacy earlier this year, in order to prevent rivals elsewhere in England passing their inferior products as the genuine article.

But it too has been left confused by the phantom turnip rule.

A spokesman said: “It will probably mean something different to small bakeries rather than people that mass-produce Cornish pasties for exporting.

“We are going to take advice from the EU because of the potential confusion on terminology. We will have to see what accommodation they are reaching.”

The EC is infamous for producing rules and regulations about food, although it maintains a list of “Euromyths” detailing where it believes they have been misunderstood by the press.

Last year it lifted a 20 year-old rule governing the sale of odd-shaped fruit and vegetables, which included the notorious stipulation that Class 1 cucumbers had to be “reasonably well shaped and practically straight” with a maximum “arc” of 10mm per 10cm length.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink ... pasty.html