I grew up eating traditional pasties made by my Gran – good skirt steak with onion, potato, swede and nothing else except generous seasoning. The pasty is unique in that the filling and the pastry are assembled raw, and everything bakes at the same time. The meat must be cut, never minced. Vegetables must be sliced or chipped, never cubed. And definitely no peas! When times were lean, the steak was replaced with extra potato and butter to aid the gravy. The pastry acts as a pressure cooker and, once baked, it’s left so the filling can stew inside and finish cooking. A pasty is a meal in itself, with no room for more food, just a nice cup of tea.
These days when I go home, our first excursion from Penzance is usually the 16-kilometre (10-mile) drive to Ann’s Pasty Shop down at Lizard Point. We buy our pasties, wander down to the lighthouse and eat them, and I know I’m home.