Lynda and Kevin’s pasty review

Many people who visit Cornwall on holiday make the mistake of buying their pasties in the large, mass produced pasty shops scattered throughout the whole of Cornwall.  To get a real Cornish pasty, you need to think ‘local shop’.

A coastal walk with a pasty picnic lunch is my perfect day.  Kevin and I are avid walkers and have sampled many pasties over the years (all in the name of research of course).  We always score the pasties we eat out of 10 based on the:

·       Quality of the meat

·       Texture of the pastry

·       Amount of pasty treacle (non Cornish people would call this gravy)

We are happy to share our research with Sarah’s guests so that they can also experience the real pasty experience. We have narrowed our findings down to the final three, so here we go …….. in reverse order:-

Third …. Mary’s pasties, Tresillian.  This pasty shop is situated in what was previously Tresillian post office.  Score – 8/10

Second …. Mylor pasties, Mylor.  These are made and sold in the local butchers. Score 9/10

Winner ….. Anne’s pasties, The Lizard and Helston.  Our favourite so far. A long way to travel but worth every mile.  Score 9.5/10

I would recommend ringing the pasty shop to order the amount you want to avoid disappointment.

A good tip is to take the biggest, woolliest hat you have if you want to keep the pasties hot.  They make the best pasty warmers.  This is particularly useful if you are taking the pasties on a coastal walk as they will remain hot for about an hour.

Other recommendations that didn’t quite make the final three, but are still a wonderful experience:

Pips pasties, Penryn

Trevarthian Butchers pasties, St Austell

Philps pasties, Hayle and Marazion

Pearces Butchers pasties, St. Austell

So you now have a week’s worth of pasty suggestions for you to sample.  I hope you have brought elasticated waistband clothing.

All of the pasties we sampled have been traditional Cornish pasties – meat, potato, swede and onion. None of these steak and stilton, or turkey and cranberry options for us, thank you.

We hope you have a lovely pasty laden holiday.

With best wishes,

Lynda and Kevin.