Miner's Lunch · Pastry Parcel

Cornish Pasty

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It's so tied to its home county that since 2011 it's had EU-style protected status — a pasty can only legally be called 'Cornish' if it's assembled in Cornwall.

A Cornish pasty is a pastry parcel filled with beef, potato, swede, and onion, crimped along one edge into a thick seal, then baked until golden. It's sold whole, wrapped in paper, to eat by hand.

Why it's made this way: It became the working lunch of Cornish tin miners, who could carry it underground, where its dense pastry kept it warm for hours. Its regional identity is now legally protected under an EU-style Protected Geographical Indication granted in 2011.