Of pies and pasties
April 19th, 2009
Pasties
I’ve already established my love of savory pies. I also have a permanent hunger for the well-made pasty. I grew up in Adelaide which is not only the home of the famous pie floater but also the best pasties in the world1.
Pasties (or tiddy oggies) are said to have originated in Cornwall as food for tin miners. They spread to various parts of the world as Cornish miners migrated to new mining areas in the 19th Century. A part of this diaspora found itself in South Australia when in 1861 copper traces were seen trailing out of a wombat hole in the north of Yorke Peninsula. The area became known as the copper coast and as “Little Cornwall”. Presumably this is why the pasty is on an equal footing with the Aussie meat pie in South Australia whereas it is just a (poorly made) footnote to fast pastries in the rest of Australia.
For most of the 33 years since I left SA I have been searching for a pasty that can come close to a decent SA pasty such as those made by the Balfours bakery.
Paper napkin from West Cornwall Pasty Co
I’ve tried pasties in London, Windsor and Winchester in the UK (never got to Cornwall unfortunately). The best of these was made by the West Cornwall Pasty Co. I still have 2 of their paper napkins 6 years on. I told you I am keen on pasties!
I try a pasty at every bakery I pass in the hope that one day I’ll find a local supplier that comes close to the grade. Here are my thoughts on how a pasty should deliver:
Filling: Generally pasties in the rest of Australia are chock-a-block with meat - often to the point where the filling is a solid lump like the filling of a bad sausage roll. This is not right. The essence of a pasty is the dominant flavour of the root vegetables, especially the swede, turnip or parsnip. The filling should be loose with distinct cubes of vegetable. In my opinion the meat should be no more than 20% of the filling. The filling should be moist without any overt gravy. Sometimes a vegetarian filling is offered. When done well these can be the most successful non-SA pasties. Unfortunately the makers often think they must make up for the lack of meat by adding strong flavours and bizarre ingredients such as spinach, corn and/or cheese. Another common failing of the vegetable pasty is when the filling is overcooked and forms a homogenous slush that has a very nasty mouth feel.
Filling - evenly diced root vegies are the essense
Pastry: I’m slightly more open-minded here. The only real offense is greasy pastry that leaves your hands covered in fat. (The pasty should always be eaten from the hand.) Unfortunately this is also relatively common especially with the vegetable version for some reason. The major choice when making a pasty at home is whether the pastry is shortcrust or flaky. The former gives a good hand-feel, is soft and just slightly bready and absorbs the juices of the filling which keeps the pasty managable and improves the flavour of the pastry. Flaky pastry has its own delightful texture and can work equally well. It is just a matter of preference and I like and make both.
Pasties with top seam
Putting the seam on the side is easier for the maker and produces the form that is popular in South Australia. Again I have no strong preference and do both.
Pasties with side seam
My late mother made pasties at home when I was young. I don’t have her original recipe nor do I know where she acquired it. I developed my recipe based loosely on what I remember of her pasties. A few years ago it was published along with two of my other recipes in the Canberra newspaper under the name ‘Yorkshire’ pasties to honour the birthplace of both my parents. I don’t know if there is a pasty tradition in Yorkshire but by labelling them as such I hoped to avoid the string of complaints that it was not a traditional recipe. No such luck. I was accosted in the paper, at work and even in the street by people telling me I had it all wrong. The main complaints were that the filling should never be pre-cooked but baked from raw in the pastry, and that mince should never be used - either diced or sliced beef is traditional. I can’t see how you can cook the filling from raw and not overcook a delicate pastry. I’m sure that’s fine when cooking a thick robust pastry for the mines but that isn’t how most people like their pasties these days. I’ve never tried diced or sliced meat but will do some time. I my mind it’s the vegies that are important so it’s not such a big deal. If you like a meaty pasty it would be a more important issue.
All that said here is my way of cooking a grand pasty.
Yorkshire Pasties
- Filling:
- 300-400g minced beef
- 1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2 potatoes
- 1 large swede
- 2 carrots
- 2 parsnips
- 2 cloves garlic mashed
- 2-3 stalks celery
- 2 cups water or stock (vegetable or chicken)
- 1 or 2 good slugs of HP sauce (or Worcestershire or other brown sauce)
- sea salt
- pepper
- Shortcrust pastry:
- 200g plain flour
- 200g self-raising flour
- 100g cooking margarine or butter
- 100g lard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 100ml cold water
The celery and garlic are optional. The root vegetables are essential especially the swede though you can substitute turnip if you like. The exact ratios are not critical and can be adjusted to your personal taste. For my taste (and smell) I believe the swede and parsnip flavours should dominate.
Dice the potato, parsnip, swede, carrot and celery to even 6mm (ΒΌ”) cubes. An even small dice is important. Chop the onion and garlic finely.
Saute the onion in a good slug of evoo.
Fry meat in a little oil in a heavy pan until well browned, breaking up the mince as much as possible. Add the garlic and then the vegetables (the firmer ones first) and continue to stir over heat so they gain slight colour. Add stock, herbs and brown sauce. Cover and simmer for about 20min making sure the potatoes don’t lose their shape. Mixture should be just moist but not runny. Allow to cool. Season.
Shortcrust pastry
For many years I’ve made pasties using this pastry.
Add flours and salt to a food processor. Add fats and process in bursts until the texture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add 1/2 the water then slowly add the rest, stopping as soon as the pastry begins to clump. Process until the pasty almost forms a ball. Wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for 20 mins. Divide pastry into manageable pieces (say quarters) and roll out the first leaving the rest wrapped. Roll to about 3mm. Use a saucer to cut circles of about 150mm.
Sour cream pastry
More recently I’ve been using Maggie Beer’s Sour Cream Pastry. I find that I need to use a little cold water to pull the pastry together. This also makes it somewhat more manageable. This technique creates a very passable flaky pastry with no more effort than the shortcrust. The secret is to keep the butter very cold at all times. Process it carefully so that the butter remains in discrete pieces. As long as it doesn’t melt, the fat will flatten into sheets when the pastry is rolled out - giving the pastry its flakiness. Use the butter straight from the fridge and work quickly so it doesn’t have time to soften. Chill the pastry for an hour at least before rolling out. If you shape the pastry into a log before chilling, it is easy to cut off a disk of the right size and just roll it out to about 150mm. Once the disks have been rolled out, put them back into the fridge to cool again before filling.
Pre-heat oven to 180°C for the shortcrust or 200°C for the sour cream pastry.
Making the pasties
Wet the edges of a pastry disc with a small amount of water or egg wash. Pile up about 2 tablespoons of filling on each disk (use as much filling as you can manage - it will depend on the flexibility of the pastry). Fold over and pinch the edges for a side seam. Or for a central seam lift two opposite sides of the disk and press together starting at the top. Then pinch the pastry between thumb and forefinger of each hand and push your hands together to create a tuck. Do this down one side of the seam and then the other. In either style make sure you expel most of the air before finally sealing the pasty.
Place on a floured or oiled baking tray and chill them again for at least 15mins. Brush with a beaten egg after chilling. Bake until pastry is golden, about 25-30 mins.
If you want to serve a sauce with them try HP as this matches the seasoning better than a tomato sauce.
- Possible controversial statement [↩]
Entry Filed under: Food
33 Comments Add your own
1. RichC | April 19th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I agree with the SA tradition of pasties- I try pasties in my travels - the missing ingredient in most in NSW where I live is that they contain more meat and no parsnip swede or turnip my families pasties (I learnt a recipe as a student from my mother in 1979 ). The other problem is that the pasties are more like a sausage roll filled with breadcrumbs or over pureed vegetables- not chunks.
Driving back to SA you get “pasties” in Balranald, but real traditional SA pasties start in Loxton and Renmark. For a while we had “Villies” in NSW these are made with very flaky pastry but filled with veges and a small amountof meat.
I make my kids “SA” pasties- “side plate” size now “saucer” and “expresso saucer” sized when they were smaller from commercial puff pastry. We also have a Pasty roll (one sheet of puff pastry- I need to precook this to cook the potatoes and Swede/turnip) and Pasty Slice using short pastry (also precooked)
Our traditional shepard pies were made mid to late in the week using the left over meat from the sunday mutton roast. I recall mincing the bits for my mum as she sliced every last bit off the bone.
2. Mark | April 19th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Sounds like we are at one Rich.
I used to do the road trip home across the Hay plains quite often - although I would cut down through Ouyen, Pinnaroo and Murray Bridge. Too long ago to remember the pasty map.
We get Villies pies in the ACT. They sell them at the Brumbies games. I occasionally buy frozen Villies pasties from my local Halal greengrocer when I’m desperate for a fix. They just remind you of a real pasty enough for it to hurt.
I’d love to hear more of the recipe you got from your mother. It’s great that you have memories of cooking with her. I didn’t really get into cooking until after I’d left home.
3. Susan | April 20th, 2009 at 6:15 am
http://www.hu.mtu.edu/vup/pasty/recipes.htm
is a link to U.P. of Michigan(Cornish Copper Miners) site about ‘pasties’ sometime one end of the pasty would have about Two Tablespoon of Jam in the corner as the miner ate his lunch he had dessert also
4. Nina | April 20th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Hey Mark.
Wow! Your post bought tears to my eyes (I am not kidding). How you feel about pasties is EXACTLY how I feel…down to how much meat should be in them. And I have always argued that Balfours are better than Villies (Villies have too much pepper), but I’ve never met anyone who actually agrees with me.
I have never tried pasties before because I worried they wouldn’t turn out how I like them. Your recipe will be the first recipe I ever attempt!
Wow!
5. Nina | April 20th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Oh - you also taught me something I didn’t know. I didn’t know that the original miner’s pastie had a side seam.
Also, I will be visiting the Kadina area for a weekend away in two weeks. I hope to eat a pastie or two!
6. Mark | April 20th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Hey Nina.
Wow! Glad you concur. Good to have a pasty buddy! Of course you don’t need to make your own as you live in SA (I assume Balfours still exists). But it is nice to try these things and to eat them fresh from the oven.
Jacqui used to work for Balfours when she was studying. She started at 4am (2am on a Friday) and packed the orders for different shops. Partly paid in pasties!
Maybe we can work out a pasty smuggling arrangement between us. And next time you’re in Canberra I’ll organise a pasty making workshop.
7. The Village Carpenter | April 20th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
I’ve never had a pasty, but they look tasty! And I’m not just saying that because I love all things edible. As always, your photos are wonderful, Mark.
8. Mark | April 21st, 2009 at 7:27 am
Thank Kari. When we get the pasty smuggling up and running I’ll see if we can do a run to Pennsylvania so you can try one.
9. Mark | April 21st, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Susan. Many thanks for the link. Very interesting resource.
I’m inspired by the idea of a rabbit pasty. I’ve been making a few rabbit pies lately and think the firm white meat could work very well in a pasty. I guess I’m now on the slippery slope to pasty iconoclasm.
Also like the wonderful names of organisations like the “Upper Peninsula of Michigan National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs. Inc” and the “Cornwall Ancient and Modern Cornish Women Institute”.
I’ll be very careful about warming my pasty on a shovel when down a mine in future.
I’ve heard about the two-part pasty with sweet filling at one end. Not sure how common it was. From a construction point of view it would be quite hard to build a pastry partition to separate the fillings but maybe they just weren’t that fussy.
10. Andrew | April 29th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Ex Adelaide local now in Townsville. They cant make a pastie to save themselves up here, way too much meat generally. Found a place called otto’s (at Warrina Shops) which is a pass. Agree with many of your points, though prefer side seam. Best ever pasty was in Clarenden Bakery (traditional pasty) during the 80’s, unfortunately new management came in and destroyed em. Though they still try and emulate the old recipe.
11. Mark | May 2nd, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Welcome Andrew. I’ve certainly been through Clarendon many times but don’t remember stopping at the bakery. Obviously I missed something special.
Nina - can you do a review for us next time you’re out that way?
12. Karen | May 20th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
You can buy Balfours pasties in the fridge section at Safeway (Woolies) in Melbourne. I was there on the weekend and had planned to bring some back and freeze them - however the shop I went to had run out! Even after freezing and reheating they taste so much better than the “fresh” pasties at local bakeries here in Canberra. I might try your recipe on the weekend, sounds delicious!
13. Mark | May 20th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Hi Karen. Great disappointment for you. One more reason to visit friends in Melbourne!
Good luck with the pasties at the weekend. Let us know how you get on.
14. geoff | February 6th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
do you use the same recepie to make a pasty slice
15. Bob | March 11th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
I also find it very hard to find a good pasty in Victoria as all the pasties I have had here since living in Victoria are stuffed with peas, which you will never find in South Australian pasties, the best pies and pasties I know of were made by the South Australian Railways Bakery at Adelaide station they supplied pies and pasties to all the refreshment rooms which is sadly gone.
The best ones I have ever tasted were at Moonta, can’t beat them.
16. Rob Wood | April 3rd, 2010 at 9:43 pm
We moved from Adelaide to Victoria 25 years ago. One of the great disappointments is that its really hard to find a good pastie. The best one I have had was at the Willunga Bakery about 3 years ago. Bordertown (not the Bakery but the place thats done up to look like a settlers hut) does an excellent pastie - ( don’t let them put the sauce in for you or you’ll get a flood in one area and none elsewhere). The Bakey at Ararat is pretty good. Other than that, around Melbourne its hopeless.
If anyone knows where to get a good pastie in Melborne please let us all know.
17. Linda | April 24th, 2010 at 11:05 am
I agree. It’s IMPOSSIBLE to find a good pasty outside of SA. I live in Qld now and when family or friends come to visit they bring Balfours care-packages of pasties. I agree totally with the less meat and more root vegetable idea too. I drove a taxi in Qld for a few years and consequently got to try bakeries all over the place regularly. I always asked for pasties, never pies. Some didn’t even stock pasties. It’s no wonder noone up here buys them, because they are all rubbish. One I tried, I couldn’t even eat because it contained some neon green slimey goo inside it… pasty NO way!! I’m going to try your recipe and I’m starting to salivate. Thanks for all the information
Linda QLD
18. Mark | April 24th, 2010 at 11:52 am
I support Rob’s plea. If you know of any decent pasty makers anywhere outside SA let us all know!
Love the idea of a Balfours care-package Linda! Take note Nina next time you’re coming to Canberra
Linda, if you try the recipe please let us know how it turns out and pass on any additional tips.
19. Alan Hughes | April 29th, 2010 at 5:19 pm
I also have the same problem as everyone else (finding a decent pasty) . I live in SA and have tried pasties almost everywhere here but to no avail. In the mid 1950’s , in Gawler SA there was a Bakery called Wall’s at the bottom of Lyndoch hill near the main street that made the best pasties on the planet. You had to make sure you got there quickly at lunch time or the customers would be four deep. Since then i have never tasted one that could compare . I agree that balfours is the best of the rest.
20. Mark | April 29th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Nice memories Alan. You obviously have higher standards than those of us not in SA. We dream of Balfours.
21. John | May 9th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Excellent pasties can be found at Red Cliffs and Ouyen in Victoria. Far better than anything from Balfour’s production line. In fact, there are plenty of bakeries in country Vic that make a good pastie. Practically non existent here in Hunter Valley though.
22. Kelly | June 16th, 2010 at 9:59 am
I live in NSW and ever since leaving SA I have always craved that elusive pastie with tomato sauce I use to have for lunch everyday at school. You cannot get a true pastie anywhere other than SA. Not one bakery can come close. I can only come up with Herbert Adams in the frozen section at Woolwoorths. It has to be oven cooked (not mircrowaved) , and left to stand for 10 minutes to give it that nearly there flavour and then a squirt right in the middle with tomato sauce. Can you get frozen Balfours anywhere in NSW?
23. Mark | June 16th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
I too remember the role the pasty played in school life - especially the smell of them wafting up the corridor before lunch.
I’ve also tried frozen pasties with moderate results. The local halal shop has frozen Villies pasties. They have a decent filling and quite a flaky pastry if, as you say, you heat them carefully.
I’m not aware of frozen Balfours anywhere I’m afraid. But live in hope!
24. Mark | June 18th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
John - sorry I missed your post. It got stuck awaiting approval and I must have missed the email. You bring good news. I’ve been through Ouyen several times on Canberra-Adelaide trips but don’t recall trying a pasty.
Don’t do that trip anymore but will definitely look out when next in country Vic. Thanks.
25. John | June 27th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Mark, that’s OK. Thanks for the reply. I last had a pastie from a bakery in Ouyen with a German sounding surname 10 years ago. Not that pasties have a link to the fatherland. None better. Belsham’s bakery in Red Cliffs(16 km out of Mildura) also know what they’re doing. I suppose when you look at it, both these places are on the SA side of Victoria, so there may be an influence. Generally, the best pasties seem to come from small, family owned bakeries. As I said earlier, pasties are woefully absent in Hunter Valley area. They seem to prefer “rat coffins” ie. sausage rolls. Its really quite tragic. By the way, i presume we are referring to ‘fold over’ pasties with puff pastry and no peas.
26. Robyn L | July 2nd, 2010 at 6:31 pm
I agree with your about pasties as well having lived 11 years in SA. Have not read the other comments, only your writing. Since moving to NSW (Queanbeyan) we have given up eating pasties. We persevered for the first year or two, hoping we could find pasties as nice as those at the Gawler Bakery, and those that you get at Moonta (that traditional cornish style bakery). But alas, no. It is the greasy meat in local (NSW) pasties that kills it for us. No veggies, or bugger all.
If your pasties are anything like your samosa’s, I imagine they would be great.
Robyn
27. Mark | July 2nd, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Thanks Robyn - and welcome to the blogosphere pasty community! I will make a batch of pasties for our project meeting some day - as soon as we get that public release out! (Or failing that I’ll just bring you one in next time I make some.)
28. Robyn L | July 2nd, 2010 at 8:01 pm
BTW: My mother comes from Ouyen. All I recall from the Ouyen bakery is Vanilla Slices, not pasties.
29. Mark | July 2nd, 2010 at 8:32 pm
Vanilla slice - now that’s another whole post!
So you’ll be able to tell me the local pronunciation of Ouyen. There’s been some controversy in my circles.
30. Robyn L | July 3rd, 2010 at 2:50 pm
Ouyen = “Ohh” (in a surprised sounding way) + “Yen”
31. Sarah Day | July 6th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
Wow, what pasty passion, I too think Villis is too peppery. What I would really like to ask is about party sized pasties, im not sure if the veggies will cook sufficiently in the time it will take the pastry to cook, (I will be using ready made puff, probably a swear word to seasoned pasty makers, but I just like to quickly whip up some finger food for Dad when he visits) Can anyone help me out please, should I part cook the veggies or do you think they will be okay to put in raw. Thanks.
32. Mark | July 6th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
I sometimes make smallish versions although they are still a few mouthfuls - not quite an amuse bouche (though I have made tiny pork pies 1″ tall for an amuse bouche party).
I sacrilegiously pre-cook my filling anyway as I think the best pastry does cook too fast to fully cook the filling. My recipe above will work with small pasties and I think commercial puff is fine if you want a shortcut. Best of luck.
33. copyu | July 11th, 2010 at 12:29 am
Nice to see such passion about a great food item.
I moved to Adelaide as a kid in 1960 (from the USA) and the pasties and meat pies were absolutely amazing!
Badenoch’s and Balfour’s were the main ‘rivals’ in the commercial pies’n'pasties world. They were both really good. (These days, I’d go for ‘Vili’s” when I go to SA…)
More recently, (in the mid-90’s) I went to “Pryce’s” bakery in Murray Bridge and the pies and pasties were as good as the usual Adelaide fare of half a century ago. Bloody brooyunt, mate! Just like the good old days…Highly recommended.
PS: My Oz and Kiwi mates all reckon my home-made pies and pasties are the best they’ve ever had…I appreciate their praise, but they’re all MUCH TOO YOUNG to remember what the ‘real deal’ was like in Adelaide…
Best,
copyu
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed