Proper Pasties

by Billy Deakin

  One of the primary goals of the Cornish Pasty Association, was to safeguard the heritage of the Cornish pasty, the future of the industry, and the reputation of the product. At the time, many companies were producing and selling “Cornish pasties” that were not made in Cornwall, and not made to a traditional recipe. For those reasons, the CPA worked hard to obtain Protected Geographic Indication (PGI) status for the Cornish Pasty.

  In 2011, it was finally announced that the Cornish pasty had been granted PGI status, the same protection enjoyed by other world renowned regional produce such as Parma ham, Champagne and Stilton cheese. This legal protection means that now, only pasty makers based in Cornwall and baking their pasties in a traditional manner to a traditional recipe are allowed to label their products as Cornish pasties.

  Fifty Shades of Pasty

  Nothing is ever black and white. In my opinion, anything said by a politician or a lawyer should be taken with a good pinch of salt. When it comes to European legislation (such as PGI status) many politicians and lawyers are involved, so you can be pretty sure that there are some grey areas, and a whole shovel full of salt may be needed.

  On the face of it, PGI status for the Cornish pasty seems like a good thing. It makes logical sense to most people that a proper Cornish pasty should be made in Cornwall. It recognises the Cornish pasty as something of significance; a unique product with a heritage worth protecting. And the PGI status prevents “rip offs” being made elsewhere at a cut price and so protects businesses and workers here in the county... or does it?

  The CPA website claims that they were formed in 2002 to “protect the quality and the reputation of the Cornish pasty and to stop consumers being misled by pasty makers who trade off the value of the name without producing a genuine product.” Certainly that sounds like a worthwhile cause, but does the PGI status really do that?

  You see, the PGI status doesn't really “protect the quality” of the pasty in my opinion. The PGI specification (available freely online at the UK government web site, and linked to from the appendix) mentions no requirements for quality, other than to say that Cornish pasties must be free from artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. They also state that the meat content must be no less than 12½%, that the vegetable content must be no less than 25%, and that the filling must be beef, potato, swede, onion and seasoning.

  Nowhere does it mention the quality or provenance of those ingredients. In fact, it clearly states that either diced or minced beef can be used. Why would they do that, if it's clear to most people that using minced beef creates an inferior product, when the goal of the CPA in petitioning for PGI status was to “protect the quality and reputation of the Cornish pasty”? The reason, it seems, is financial. You see, some big producers such as Ginsters sell millions of their mass produced products each year in supermarkets and filling stations all over the country, and in making their low price point product they use minced beef. They are also members of the CPA!

  “Having the [PGI] status sounds nice for Cornish suppliers, but in fact it opens the doors for a lot of cheap imitations.”

  - Tim Pointer, Pengenna Pasties, Bude

  So it seems clear that while the Cornish pasty's PGI status is a good thing in general, the idea that it was done purely to protect the heritage, integrity and quality of the pasty is shady at best. More than likely, the primary reason for the CPA pushing for PGI status was to protect the business interests of its members, and that's fair enough... but it gets worse!

  There is one seemingly insignificant line on page 2 of the specification which reads:

  “On assembling Cornish Pasties, the pasties are 'D' shaped and pastry edges are crimped either by hand or mechanically to one side, and never on top.”

  The “or mechanically” part is clearly there to protect the interests of the big mass producers but that's not the issue, the issue is the statement that the crimp must be on the side and “never on top”. You see, some Cornish people have been crimping their pasties on the side for hundreds of years... and some have been crimping on top for just as long! Tim Pointer of Pengenna Pasties in Bude had this to say:

  “It is a bit of a thorn in our side as our pasties are the wrong shape to qualify to be advertised as Cornish pasties. Ours have a small crimp on top, the PGI description is for Cornish Pasties to have a large side crimp.”

  There are small, artisan producers in Cornwall who have been making and selling their pasties to a traditional recipe for generations, and crimping them on the top. Due to the PGI specification they are no longer allowed to legally sell their pasties as “Cornish pasties” despite the fact that they are made in Cornwall, to a traditional Cornish recipe, by second or third generation pasty makers. These small businesses are not allowed to call their pasties “Cornish pasties”, even though they are making a high quality product, in the traditional way – exactly what the CPA claims to be trying to protect. Doesn't seem right does it, not when a big company can mass produce a mince filled product wrapped in plastic, sold from a refrigerator in a filling station, and yet still be allowed to call them Cornish pasties because they are crimped on the side!

  Please don't get me wrong, I'm not against the CPA. I think they do a lot of good and certainly some of the CPA members make fantastic pasties. Neither do I think the PGI status of the Cornish pasty is bad in itself, on the contrary I believe it does offer rightful protection to a unique product. I do however feel that, like most things in life, the argument for and against isn't clear cut and I wanted to offer the reader both sides. Certainly the way the PGI specification was laid out appears to have been done largely to favour the big mass producers, rather than to simply protect the heritage and quality of a unique regional product. For businesses such as the Samworth Brothers, who amongst many other business interests own Ginsters with their fleet of 150 delivery vehicles shipping their plastic wrapped wares to motorway services all over the country, the PGI status seems to be a massive triumph – but that's hardly surprising since they are founder members of the CPA. While Ginsters itself is based in Cornwall, the parent company of Samworth Brothers has its registered office in Leicestershire, so it's not even as if all the money from their substantial sales (listed as over £500 million per year in a recent Sunday Times list of top UK companies) is staying in the Cornish economy. As to whether or not the PGI status of the Cornish pasty, or the CPA themselves for that matter, are a good or bad thing for the Cornish pasty, or for Cornwall in general, I'll leave that for you, dear reader, to decide for yourself.

  Left: A beautiful looking hand made pasty, but since it's crimped on top it can't legally be sold as a “Cornish pasty”.

  Right: This plastic wrapped, mince filled abomination can legally be sold as a Cornish pasty due to the way the PGI specification has been laid out.

  Pastygate

  The Pasty Tax Scandal

  “You'll never stop the British people laughing... though they did get bleddy close with that poll tax thing” - Jethro

  You'll never stop the Cornish people laughing either... but they did get bleddy close with the pasty tax!

  In the spring of 2012 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Conservative MP George Osborne, announced in the annual budget that the rules governing VAT on “hot takeaway food” would be changed, to make it payable where it had previously been exempt. Of course, this would mean a massive increase in the cost of pasties, and it became a major political controversy, dubbed in at least one newspaper as “Pastygate”.

  With any controversial legislation, there will of course be people who are passionate on both sides of the argument. The coalition government's stance was that pasties, and other baked goods which were sold straight from the oven, had been exempt from VAT due to a loophole which they intended to close in order to end “anomalies” and to “level the playing field” between retailers. Foods such as fish and chips or pizza, which are cooked and sold hot, always qualified for VAT. Pasties, and other baked goods such as sausage rolls were exempt since t
hey were not necessarily eaten hot – they are often taken away and eaten later in the day, or reheated at home.

  In his budget speech, Osborne stated that he wanted to create a level playing field by imposing the tax on bakeries and supermarkets selling hot food to bring them in line with fast-food outlets which were already paying VAT. His suggestion was that any food bought at higher than “ambient temperature” should require VAT to be paid. Clearly the man has never worked in a bakery or a pasty shop; did he really expect customers to pay one price for a cold pasty, and another for a warm one from the same shop? What about the customer who wants to buy a tax-exempt cold pasty to eat later in the day, but the only ones the shop has left are straight from the oven? Should the customer wait for 30 minutes before making his purchase, or pay an extra 20%?

  The idea that it “levelled the playing field” with fast food outlets never really made sense either. I don't know about you, but I've never bought fish and chips and then taken it away to eat cold for my lunch a few hours later, have you?

  Needless to say, the vast majority of Cornish folk were very much against George Osborne's plans and there was a backlash. A petition against the tax, delivered to Downing Street in April 2012, boasted over half a million signatures, while claims that the government “are out of touch with ordinary hard working people” were levied against David Cameron and his colleagues.

  Of course, being a politician, Cameron responded in the way he knows best – by apparently lying and making himself look even more of a prat than usual (rather a difficult task it has to be said!). At a press conference for the London Olympics, Cameron said, “I am a pasty eater myself. I go to Cornwall on holiday. I love a hot pasty. I think the last one I bought was from the Cornwall Pasty Company. I seem to remember I was in Leeds station at the time and the choice was whether to have one of their small ones or large ones, and I have a feeling I opted for the large one and very good it was too.”

  The first thing that strikes me from that statement is, why is he saying he goes to Cornwall for his holidays and then talking about buying a pasty in Leeds? Surely, as Prime Minister, his geography of the UK isn't THAT bad?!?

  I suspect he soon regretted mentioning Leeds at all however, since the next day several journalists had discovered that the West Cornwall Pasty Company outlet at Leeds station had closed down in 2007! So I guess he was either lying, or he's a very irregular pasty eater – about one every 5 years!

  If politicians have a reputation for being, shall we say “flexible with the truth”, they are also known for taking “donations” from people and organisations who might benefit from their decision making. And sure enough, it would only be a matter of weeks before another embarrassing story hit the headlines about the Conservatives. It turned out that they had received a donation of £100,000 from Mark Samworth, a director of Samworth Brothers which own and operate Ginsters. Ginsters of course are the UK's biggest supplier of cold pasties, which would continue to be tax exempt under the new laws.

  Karl Turner, Labour MP said, “This smells worse than a mouldy pasty. Just days after George Osborne slapped a massive tax hike on 'hot' pies, the Tories got a six-figure donation from someone who makes 'cold' snacks. This could reheat David Cameron's cash-for-policies scandal.”

  In defence of the donation, a statement from Samworth Brothers read that “The donation was made in a personal capacity and has no connection to the business”. Well fair enough then, I guess it must have just been a complete coincidence that a director of the UK's biggest supplier of cold pasties made a large cash donation to the government just weeks after a tax was imposed on hot pasties which would presumably negatively impact their competitors... move along people, nothing to see here!

  U-turn

  After protests, marches and petitions against the proposed pasty tax, the government altered the definition of what is considered a “hot” pasty to allow for a reversal of its controversial plans.

  The amendment allowed for pasties which were sold as they were cooling down (but not kept hot in a special cabinet) to continue to be exempt from VAT.

  This was of course welcome news, for pasty sellers and customers alike. While a pasty that was kept artificially warm in a heated cabinet or on a hot plate would incur VAT, a hot pasty straight from the oven would not. Many pasty shops stated that they would make small changes to allow their customers to avoid the tax, mostly by cooking smaller batches more often to reduce the need for using a heated cabinet.

  George Eustice, Conservative MP for Camborne and Redruth was delighted with the u-turn, stating that “this is very good news. It is everything we and the industry have asked for.” And in fact, this ruling does indeed meet with the originally stated targets of the tax – to force supermarkets onto a more level playing field with smaller businesses. If a supermarket has a cabinet full of hot pasties, they will incur 20% VAT. On the other hand, a small pasty shop down the road, selling their pasties straight from the oven, will not.

  Of course, not everyone was happy. Labour were quick to state that the u-turn on pasty tax, combined with a change to a proposed tax on static caravans, would add £110 million to the government's deficit. For the Cornish however, and pasty lovers across the land, the u-turn was a triumph. Well done Trelawny's army – proper job!

  “The Cornish people have won and there will be dancing in streets from Land's End to the Tamar as people hear that the Government has dropped their plans to clobber local people and local businesses with this tax.”

  - Stephen Gilbert, Liberal Democrat MP

  Front page of the Sun newspaper, May 2012

  The World Pasty Championships

  In 2012, the Eden Project teamed up with the Cornish Pasty Association to host the inaugural World Pasty Championships. The event attracted over 100 entries, not only from Cornwall but from as far afield as the USA. Awards were given to both professional and amateur pasty makers, competing in two categories - traditional Cornish (which had to comply with PGI specifications) and an open category which could include any savoury filling.

  I decided to enter for fun, and though I hoped to place well I was surprised when I won first place, taking the title of Amateur Cornish Pasty World Champion. Even more of a surprise however was what a great event Eden put on. The day was packed with music and dance, workshops, pasty trivia, comedy, children's activities and more with highlights including the hilarious Kernow King, and the dulcet tones of the Aberfal Oggymen. It was a real celebration of the pasty and of Cornishness, and the day ended with an awards ceremony dubbed the “Oggy Oscars”.

  I was unable to attend the awards ceremony (not knowing I had won, my wife and I had gone home by that point to walk the dog!) but it turns out there was some controversy. The winner of the professional category was the aptly named Graham Cornish. The controversy however was that he worked for Ginsters!

  Needless to say, it wasn't a Ginster's “pasty” that won (sorry but I had to put that in quotation marks, I just can't bring myself to call their products pasties!) rather he had made it at home, by hand, to his own recipe. People however put 2 and 2 together, made 5 and started assuming that it was a fix, and that it was actually a Ginster's pasty which had won.

  Eden of course were quick to make it clear that despite working for Ginsters, the pasty Graham had entered had been made by hand, himself, using his own recipe but that didn't stop a plethora of negative comments on Facebook and blogs over the coming days such as “Ginsters do not make pasties! Whichever fool awarded Ginsters these awards must be ashamed with themselves”, “Grandmother would be turning in her grave.

  Disgusting results!” and even “They are to Cornish pasties what the Taliban are to world peace.” Even I think that third one is a bit over the top, but it shows how passionate some people are about their beloved pasties!

  Clearly this wasn't the PR that Eden, or the CPA, wanted and so they quickly began work on making changes to the rules to avoid this sort of controversy in the future.

  Ba
sed on that, and the experience they had gained from running the first competition, the Eden Project came back with a bigger and better pasty championships in 2013, with several new categories. Firstly a new children's category was introduced, and secondly a “company” category was added, with rules stipulating that “These pasties must be produced to exactly the same recipe and method and in the same place as the Cornish pasty that your business sells to the public.” This rule would prevent any winning pasty being misrepresented as one from a commercial producer, if it wasn't what they actually sold.

  For myself, going back to defend my title added a new challenge. Not only was there some expectation (in 2012 I was just entering for fun, now I was trying to prove it wasn't a fluke) but also there was media attention to deal with. In the weeks running up to the event, I did a number of radio and newspaper interviews, while Cornwall Today came to cook pasties with me at my home, running a 3 page spread. The Guardian even requested a recipe from me which they published. It was at this point that I realised that if I was to win again, I could probably write a book. That of course added even more pressure – the competition had heated up, and now I was determined to win!