Pastygate - the row over the British pasty sizzles on

If  you live in an air-tight box in the outer reaches of the Galapagos islands, you may not have noticed the whole world has been gripped by pasty-mania.

Yes you heard right, pasties, like the ones that come from Cornwall.

It all started after the Sun revealed chancellor George - I haven’t managed to find a way to tax air and sex yet- Osborne wants to slap a 20-per cent duty on freshly-baked pasties.

The Government sparked a furore by claiming they should be treated the same as takeaways, and subject to the same taxes.

Bakers argue they are cooled down before they are sold, and should therefore be classified separately.

Jumping straight onto the pasty-wagon, Labour leader Ed Miliband tried to heat up the debate by paying a high-profile visit to a Greggs bakers in Worcestershire today.

It was billed as a show of solidarity with the chain, which has seen £30 million wiped off the value of its shares since the Budget last week when Mr Osborne brought in the levy.

The Prime Minister was next to join the pasty fan club, declaring he recently bought a large one from the West Cornwall Pasty Company’s outlet at Leeds station.

“And very good it was too,” said David Cameron as he defended the decision to charge VAT on hot food served by shops and supermarkets.

Bad news Mr Cameron, that was a fib and we’ve caught you out – that pasty store closed in March 2007.

He insists the move will defend takeaway restaurants against competition from major chains.

The whole country was whipped up into a pasty frenzy as the debate battled on, #pastygate was trending on twitter and pasties were being ferried into offices around the country.

There were jokes about panic buying petrol, water (drought reference) and pasties.

#pastysongs appeared on twitter – my contribution was Crazy, by Pasty Cline.

So I was left with no choice but to dream up an imaginative, witty and informative blog about the fat-laden food favourites.

I failed, but rather than go down the obvious and thoroughly depressing route of taxes and the latest idea of the Government to put its hands in our pockets and have a rummage around before helping itself, I thought a few facts and figs about the great British, or should I say Cornish, pasty would be more appropriate.

My source – The Cornish Pasty Association, oh yes, there is one!

So what makes a genuine Cornish Pasty?

It must have a distinctive 'D' shape and is crimped on one side, never on top. 

The texture is chunky, made up of uncooked minced or roughly cut chunks of beef (not less than 12.5 per cent), swede, potato and onion and a light peppery seasoning.

The Cornish Pasty Association (CPA) was formed in 2002 by a group of more than 50 pasty makers based in Cornwall. 

The Association exists to “protect the quality and the reputation of the Cornish pasty and to stop consumers being misled by pasty makers who trade off the value of the name without producing a genuine product”.

Many pasties are labeled  “Cornish pasties but they are made outside of Cornwall, without following a traditional recipe or baking manner and are inferior in both quality and taste.

The CPA applied to DEFRA for Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status for the Cornish Pasty which was granted ion 2011.

It was given  the same status  as  Champagne, Parma Ham, Stilton Cheese, Arbroath Smokies, Cornish Clotted Cream, Smoked Salmon and other regional produce. 

Only pasty makers in Cornwall, who make pasties to a traditional manner and follow a traditional recipe, are able to label their products as Cornish pasties. 

So there you have it, and a first for me – I never thought I would write a blog  about Cornish pasties!