Cornish cuisine

Stargazy pie with sardines looking skywards

Television chef Rick Stein has long operated a fish restaurant in Padstow, and in 2006 Jamie Oliver opened his second restaurant, Fifteen Cornwall, in Watergate Bay near Newquay. MasterChef host and founder of Smiths of Smithfield John Torode purchased Seiners in Perranporth in 2007. Nathan Outlaw opened a two-Michelin-star fish restaurant at Rock, which then transferred to Port Isaac.[7]

One famous local fish dish is stargazy pie, a fish-based pie in which the heads of the fish stick through the piecrust, as though "star-gazing". The pie is cooked as part of traditional celebrations for Tom Bawcock's Eve.

Cornish Pirates rugby players with a giant pasty that was paraded as part of the 2009 Saint Piran's Festival at Camborne.

Cornwall is perhaps best known though for its pasties, a savoury baked dish made from pastry. Today's pasties usually contain a filling of beef steak, onion, potato and swede with salt and white pepper, but historically pasties had a variety of different fillings. "Turmut, 'tates and mate" (i.e. swede, potatoes and meat) describes a filling once very common. For instance, the licky pasty contained mostly leeks, and the herb pasty contained watercress, parsley, and shallots.[8] Pasties are often locally referred to as oggies. Historically, pasties were also often made with sweet fillings such as jam, apple and blackberry, plums or cherries.[9] The Pasty Shop[10] and West Cornwall Pasty[11] are among the Cornish chains that have popularised traditional oggies around the UK.

Squab pie is a traditional dish from South West England, with early records showing it was commonly eaten in Cornwall, Devon and Gloucestershire. Although the name suggests it should contain squab (young domestic pigeon), it in fact contains mutton and apples. The pie has become popular around the world, though outside South West England, it generally does contain pigeon.

In recent times Ginsters bakery has become a large-scale producer of meat pies.

Davidstow Creamery

The wet climate and relatively poor soil of Cornwall make it unsuitable for growing many arable crops.[12] However, it is ideal for growing the rich grass required for dairying, leading to the production of Cornwall's other famous export, clotted cream. This forms the basis for many local specialities including Cornish fudge and Cornish ice cream. Cornish clotted cream is protected under EU law,[13] and cannot be made anywhere else. Its principal manufacturer is Rodda's, based at Scorrier. Clotted cream is a principal ingredient of a Cornish cream tea.

Cheese

See also List of Cornish cheeses

Heavy (hevva) cakes

In 2004 there were nearly 60 varieties of cheese produced in Cornwall, and Cornish cheeses have won many awards.[14]

Davidstow Cheddar and Cathedral City Cheddar cheeses are produced at Davidstow by Dairy Crest, using water ultimately from St David's Holy Well, next to the parish church. St Erth was the site of a large creamery operated by United Dairies; this was responsible for processing a large quantity of milk produced in Penwith.

Cornish Blue is a cheese made by the Cornish Cheese Company at Upton Cross and was recognised in December 2010 as the winning cheese in the World Cheese Awards.[15] Cornish Brie is a brie-style, soft, white-rinded cheese produced by several makers in Cornwall. Gevrik is a soft, full-fat goat's milk cheese produced in Trevarrian near Newquay. The name means "little goat" in Cornish.[16] Keltic Gold is a type of semi-hard cheese made by Whalesborough Farm Foods. Menallack and Nanterrow cheeses are made at Menallack Farm near Penryn.[17] Tesyn is a type of smoked goat's milk cheese made by the firm Cornish Cuisine. Cornish Yarg is a semi-hard cow's milk cheese made in Cornwall. Before being left to mature, this cheese is carefully wrapped in nettle leaves to form an edible, though mouldy, rind. The texture varies from creamy and soft immediately under the nettle coating to a Caerphilly cheese-like crumbly texture in the middle. Modern production is at Pengreep Farm near Truro, by Lynher Dairies from an old recipe. Lynher Dairies also make Cornish Garland and Tiskey Meadow.

Traditional Cornish fairings

Local cakes and desserts include saffron cake, heavy (hevva) cake (similar to Welsh cakes), fairing biscuits, figgy 'obbin,[18] or fuggan, scones (often served with jam and clotted cream) and whortleberry pie.[19][20][21] Baking cakes using yeast is more common here than in the rest of England. The Cornish Gilliflower is a variety of apple tree found at Truro in 1813 which was afterwards grown commercially. Other Cornish cultivars include the Cornish Aromatic and the King Byerd. Various fruit trees can be grown in Cornwall - the Tamar Valley was once renowned for its early strawberries and cherries. Whortleberries, damsons and blackberries can be gathered in some rural areas and homegrown produce can be used for jam-making or puddings.

Cornish food, like the Cornish pasty, is still popular amongst the Cornish Australian communities. Former premier of South Australia Don Dunstan once took part in a pasty-making contest. Swanky beer and saffron cake were very popular in the past and have been revitalised by Kernewek Lowender and the Cornish Associations.[26]

In the 1880s, Henry Madren Leggo, whose parents came from St Just, Cornwall, began making vinegar, pickles, sauces, cordials and other grocery goods based on his mother's traditional recipes. His company, now known as Leggo's, is wrongly believed by many to be Italian.[27]

A boutique brewery operation in South Australia, Copper Coast Wines, produces traditional Cornish Swanky beer, a bottle-conditioned beer, for the biennial Copper Coast region Kernewek Lowender Cornish Festival,[28] held in May in alternate (odd numbered) years. The name "Swanky beer" appears to refer to a Cornish home brew. During the 19th century, many Cornish miners emigrated to the Copper Triangle region of South Australia to work in the copper mines at Moonta. They brought local traditions, such as Cornish pasties and home-brewed beer they termed "Swanky beer",[29] which was brewed from ingredients including malted barley, hops, yeast, brown sugar, ginger, raisins and soft rainwater. It was put into beer bottles with the tops tied down with twine and stored in the coolest place in the house until ready. It was served on festive occasions, such as Easter, Midwinter's Night (Bonfire Night) and Christmas.

A "Cousin Jack's" pasty shop in Grass Valley, California

Some aspects of Cornish American cuisine are derived from Cornwall. At Mineral Point, Wisconsin, it is claimed that authentic Cornish food, such as pasties and figgyhobbin, are served[30] and Cornish pasties are sold at ex-Cornish mining towns in America. Pasties can also be found in many Northern Michigan towns, such as Crystal Falls, Michigan. The city of Grass Valley, California, holds St Piran's Day celebrations every year, which along with carol singing, includes a flag raising ceremony, games involving the Cornish pasty, and Cornish wrestling competitions.[31]

A Cornish mine in Mineral del Monte, Hidalgo, Mexico

In the State of Hidalgo in central Mexico, a local speciality originates from the Cornish pasty, called pastes, which was introduced by miners and workers from Cornwall who were contracted in the silver mining towns of Mineral del Monte and Pachuca. The majority of migrants to this region came from what is now known as the Cornish "central mining district" of Camborne and Redruth.[32]