Swede-ish scientists working in Cornwall fear the pasty harvest this year will be severely depleted because of the long period of cold and dry weather the county has recently endured.
Pasties rely on the normally mild wet weather in Cornwall during January, February and March in order to ripen correctly, the warmth allowing the pastry to develop a light golden crust, the rain allowing the pasty to swell sufficiently and produce the right moisture content for the filling. With the prolonged cold and dry weather this winter, the Swedes report that this years pasties will be much smaller than the normal for recent years and they will have much thicker crusts. They will also have reduced gravy content, effectively sealing their fate as being considered inedible by all except the least discerning.
The weather also means the harvest has been delayed by several week, running the risk that the annual pasty picking teams will not be available to do their back breaking work when the crop is finally ready to pick as they will already have moved on to their next seasonal harvest up country. This difficulty will, however, be partially offset by the reduced yield likely because of the weather.
Professor Loof Lirpa of the Swede-ish Universities Perfect Pasty Experimental Research (SUPPER) team says “Overall, this season is likely to be a disaster. We will see fewer, smaller pasties this season without doubt and they will be inedible. Objective One must be to get all pasties under wraps next year to ensure the 2007 harvest succeeds. We can only hope the yield will recover. Our colleagues at the Cornish Research Institute for Marketing Pasties (CRIMP) are working day and night to provide the necessary guidance and support to pasty farmers throughout Cornwall to ensure next years harvest is protected. It can only be hoped their research will produce the results we need to avert another disaster for local farmersâ€.
DEFRA was unavailable for comment about this serious concern as their spokesperson was out to lunch with a ploughman, but an NFU spokesperson, speaking from the Management Executive offices of their Agricultural Needs Support Operational Monitoring & Evaluation team (ME-ANSOME) in Camborne did suggest a toll is applied at the Country (sorry, County) borders on both the A30 and the A38 to provide a support fund for those most seriously affected. It was felt a charge of 20 pence per vehicle would suffice, provided it went dreckly to the impoverished producers and was not swallowed up by administration charges. A suggestion that the Emergency Fund For Oven-Focused Farmers (EffOff) is set up without delay was warmly welcomed by all those involved.
Brilliant ;D
I like that! Thanks for the reminder! ;)
;D that reminds me - I must get my spagetti in.
;D
I've sent it to a Cornish internet friend, who is very keen on her pasties. ;D
That's worrying when the true pasty is an endangered species anyway. 99% of the 'pasties' sold are mere meat pies, and usually an inferior version at that.
Quote from: DenBee on April 01, 2006, 09:12:04
;D
I've sent it to a Cornish internet friend, who is very keen on her pasties. ;D
I've sent it to two of mine.....one in Canada and one in Singapore.....gonna be a much-travelled pastie, this one...
;D ;D ;D Lishka
Ooerr and it reminded my just how good a genuine Cornish pasty actually is. mmm can smell it cooking now!
Ive got some under glass, so I shall sell them on ebay when they are ready. I am also working on a pasty/pie hybrid which should help to bridge the north/south divide.
This should win me the Nobel Peas Prize
;D ;D ;D ACE
(you gonna get into training for the 9th, btw? Just thought I'd ask..... :D)
Hehe
The thought of a pasty/pie hybrid fills me with horror. Only the true purebread pasty has the vital crust of hard pastry which sets it apart from its mongrel imitators.
Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on April 01, 2006, 21:25:12
purebread pasty
??? thought they were made from pastry ::) ;D
There's always one!
Must be an Emmit?
My sympathies to our Cornish friends who will have difficulty making a crust this year, but I'm afraid the continuing weather conditions have affected your northerly cousins just as badly.
Due to recent melting of the heavy snows and the severe waterlogging of the moors, the Haggis shooting season has been delayed.
Quote from: Amazin on April 01, 2006, 23:49:26
My sympathies to our Cornish friends who will have difficulty making a crust this year, but I'm afraid the continuing weather conditions have affected your northerly cousins just as badly.
Due to recent melting of the heavy snows and the severe waterlogging of the moors, the Haggis shooting season has been delayed.
Thanks Amazin, I was made aware of this tragic situation in a email from another friend who pointed out the problem, and also informed me that the haggis population is now officially endangered due to the mother Hags having problems with the birthing/delivery problems of the gislets (baby haggis)due to the extended cold weather.