Cornish Pasties Recipe

While pastry has served as a container for food for centuries, a cornish pasty is unique to cornwall. It's a tangible reminder of its mining past, although people now eat them whenever a quick and portable meal is needed. It was designed to accompany a miner to the mine in his pocket and it contained enough meat and turnips for at least a couple of meals. The miner's initials were usually carved into one end, to vent steam as it baked and so there would be no question to whom the pasty belonged. Editor's note: this recipe has been retested and adjusted to better match the filling and pastry amounts; the new yield (of slightly smaller pasties) is now 6.