Cornish a double winner at the World Pasty Championships
The aptly named Graham Cornish of Ginsters bagged two top prizes at the first-ever World Pasty Championships at Eden Project on Saturday (3 March). Graham, who lives in Liskeard, Cornwall, was victorious in the Cornish Pasty Professional and Open Savoury Professional categories. His Cornish Pasty followed a traditional recipe of skirt beef and vegetables while his Open Savoury pasty contained a selection of smoked Cornish fish, parsley, saffron and Cornish clotted cream.
Billy Deakin of Mount Hawke, near Redruth, triumphed in the Cornish Pasty Amateur category while Suzanne Manson of Bristol scooped the Open Savoury Amateur category with her pasty containing wild rabbit poached in cider and leeks, finished with peas and lemon zest.
All entrants in the Cornish Pasty categories conformed to the traditional recipe, as laid down by the European Union Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). This means that only pasty makers based in Cornwall who make pasties in a traditional manner and follow a traditional recipe are able to label their products as Cornish pasties.
The event attracted more than 100 entries from all over the world, and winners were decided by a panel of 21 judges who awarded marks for taste, texture, appearance, pastry crimp and technical expertise.
Graham said: ‘I’m humbled to win this award. From the age of five-years-old I was making pasties. The secret of a great pasty is using the freshest local ingredients. Eden is a brilliant venue and this event raises the profile of the Cornish pasty. It’s good for local sourcing and local farming and it’s brilliant to get people eating more pasties.’
Pasty world champions
The top three in each category were:
Cornish Pasty Professional
1 Graham Cornish of Ginsters in Callington, Cornwall
2 Ryan Smedley of Chough Bakery in Padstow, Cornwall
3 Jason Jobling of Warrens Bakery in Penzance, Cornwall
Cornish Pasty Amateur
1 Billy Deakin of Mount Hawke, Cornwall
2 Kathy Vian of Sticker, Cornwall
3 Tamsin Bunt of Penwithick, Cornwall
Open Savoury Professional
1 Graham Cornish of Ginsters in Callington, Cornwall
2 Luisa Ead of Chough Bakery in Padstow, Cornwall
3 Jay Sebastian of Bridgeport Pasty Company, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Open Savoury Amateur
1 Suzanne Manson of Bristol
2 Laura Jayne Atkinson of Truro, Cornwall
3 Gem Witchalls of Truro, Cornwall
Other competitors included Mike Amery, who was born in St Austell but has lived in Pennsylvania, USA, most of his life and returned to enter the World Pasty Championships.
Also competing was Beverley Milner of Cornish Maids bakery in Camelford, who baked a pasty with savoury filling in one end and sweet in the other, just like Cornish miners were said to have eaten.
The Championships were backed by the Cornish Pasty Association after it won European Union Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status for the Cornish pasty last year.
Watch the video report by the Press Association
Graham Cornish, winner of the Cornish Pasty Professional and Open Savoury Professional categories
Suzanne Manson of Bristol, winner of the Open Savoury Amateur category
- Comments:
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- Cornwall, Food, World Pasty Championships
15 responses to Cornish a double winner at the World Pasty Championships
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Lets hope Graham Cornish brings his skills into use at Gingsters and they stop producing those Saturated fat laden excuses they call pasties.
Originally from St.Austell now living in Tasmania Australia, I couldn’t fly back for the world pasty championships so i made some on the day here in Australia. They went down a treat and the family didn’t leave a crumb, so maybe next year. A fantastic idea Eden.
G’day, me mates were taught by their grandmothers to make pasties which were the main meal when you were out working all day, bloody beaut they were. what about an organic pasty?
Ginsters: real honest food.
Owned by Samworth Brothers who are based in Leicestershire.
What an absolute disgrace someone from Ginsters won any pasty making competition. They are to Cornish pasties what the Taliban are to world peace. What a complete joke
Ginsters do not make pastys! Whichever fool awarded Ginsters these awards must be ashamed with themselves.
Ginsters are a DISGRACE to the word pasty. My Grandmother would be turning in her grave.
Disgusting results.
Thanks for your comments Sam. Just to clarify, the two prizes were awarded to Mr Cornish, who works for Ginsters, rather than to the company. Mr Cornish submitted pasties made according to his own recipes.
We created a Professional category to ensure that professional bakers were not competing against amateurs, but the prizes were nevertheless awarded to the individual, following a blind taste test by the judging panel.
Thanks for your comments Richard. Just to clarify, the two prizes were awarded to Mr Cornish, who works for Ginsters, rather than to the company. Mr Cornish submitted pasties made according to his own recipes.
We created a Professional category to ensure that professional bakers were not competing against amateurs, but the prizes were nevertheless awarded to the individual, following a blind taste test by the judging panel.
Thanks for your comments Matt. Just to clarify, the two prizes were awarded to Mr Cornish, who works for Ginsters, rather than to the company. Mr Cornish submitted pasties made according to his own recipes.
We created a Professional category to ensure that professional bakers were not competing against amateurs, but the prizes were nevertheless awarded to the individual, following a blind taste test by the judging panel.
It would be good to have a category where everyday commercially available pasties are compared so visitors could know where to go to buy the best. Not much use having someone from Ginsters winning even if he can make a darned good pasty in his own time.
Heartiest congratulations to whoever had the idea of instituting a WPC. Brought up on Sellick’s and Dewdney’s in Plymouth, but now an expat, you may imagine how my nose twitches as I arrive at e.g. Gatwick, Edinburgh or Victoria and sense the presence of the Cornish Pasty Company! Always my first UK ‘port of call’.
I’d love to have been there for the WPC. Perhaps next year, if only to cheer on the Devonian entries!
oh dear, are we Americans known for the hotpocket? I don’t even think that is in the same gaulee the British Pasty!These remind me of the pies they have in Australia my favorite is steak and kidney with mash potatoes on top. Yummers!
UMM …DID MR CORNISH ENTER AS ….MR CORNISH “”GINSTERS ,,,OR MR CORNISH ..
Hi Mike, the two prizes were awarded to Mr Cornish, who works for Ginsters, rather than to the company. Mr Cornish submitted pasties made according to his own recipes. We created a Professional category to ensure that professional bakers were not competing against amateurs, but the prizes were nevertheless awarded to the individual, following a blind taste test by the judging panel.
Had a Pasty from Chough Bakery in Padstow on Saturday I saw their award in the window, and can confirm their pasties are excellent. The winners must have been pretty good to beat that, but it’s all about the results on the day…..