Facts about Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall, in Cornish known as “ Kernow” is the most southwesterly county of England , on the peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar . The administrative centre and only city is Truro . Cornwall covers an area of 1,376 square miles (3,563 km²), including the Isles of Scilly , located 28 miles (45 km) offshore. Cornwall has a population of 513,528, with a relatively low population density of 373 people per square mile (144 / km² ).

The Cornish Pasty!

It was once said that the Devil would never dare to cross the River Tamar into Cornwall for fear of ending up as a filling in a Cornish Pasty! For centuries the Cornish have been filling their famous pasties with almost any ingredients that you would care to think of. The traditional filling is, of course, beef and potato, usually with slices of onion and swede mixed in as well, but the humble pasty can also be found in a number of other guises. Popular fillings down the years have included Egg and Bacon, Rabbit, Apples, Figs, Jam, and Egg and Currants.

There is virtually no limit to what tasty filling you might find when you take a first bite into that delicious crunchy pastry! Surprisingly, however, in a region where the sea plays such an important role in everyday life, fish has never been regarded as an appropriate pasty filling. In fact, the more superstitious among Cornish fishermen will refuse to take a pasty on board their boat when they set out to sea, in the belief that it will bring them bad luck.

The pasty originally evolved to meet the needs of tin mining, that other great, but now sadly declined, Cornish industry. A hearty meal wrapped in a pastry casing made for a very practical lunch (or "croust" , as they used to call it ) down in the dark and damp tunnels of the mine. Some mines even built huge ovens on the surface to keep the miner's pasties hot until it was time to eat.