Cheese and Onion Pasty

[maggiethecat]

Twice a month during my childhood, Saturday lunch was a Cheese and Onion Pasty. I've never seen a recipe for it, nor have I met anyone who knows about it except my family. I suspect Mummy learned about it from my Nana, a daughter of Lancashire, so if any English northerners are familiar with this dish, please enlighten me.

My mother made her beautiful retro shortening flour and water pastry (tender, flaky and crisp) and rolled half of it into a rectangle on a cookie sheet. Onto this rectangle she placed slices of good Canadian cheddar (dried out ratbait rocked), thinly sliced onions, salt and pepper and dabs of butter. Perhaps a swathe of paprika. The other half of the pastry was rolled out, placed on top, crimped and slashed. Into the oven until the pastry was golden and the cheddar bubbled through the slashes. It was perfect, but for the first time in my life, tonight I thought about addition. Ham? Mushrooms?

If anyone has made or eaten a Cheese and Onion Pasty I'd love to know about where and when. And if you haven't, please give it a shot and report back.

[Tri2Cook]

I've never made it, eaten it or even seen it... but I think I will remedy that situation. It sounds really good.

[nakji]

Oh, my goodness, I hadn't thought about those in years. My dear "Nanny in England" made those the few times I met her. She was actually Scots, from Dundee, but my Granddad was from Yorkshire, perhaps he introduced her to them? Oh, they're marvellous. I think she used to make them in pie form, too. Yum yum yum. And I don't have an oven, so I could recreate them. The pastry was made with lard, I think, and absolutely no paprika. Butter and onions, and strong cheddar, yes.

She was an excellent cook. I wish I could get my hands on her recipes, but they're lost, along with her. She made a mean cock-a-leekie soup, too.

[maggiethecat]

I've never made it, eaten it or even seen it... but I think I will remedy that situation. It sounds really good.

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It is, and I would love your expert opinion.

[maggiethecat]

Oh, my goodness, I hadn't thought about those in years. My dear "Nanny in England"  made those the few times I met her. She was actually Scots, from Dundee, but my Granddad was from Yorkshire, perhaps he introduced her to them? Oh, they're marvellous. I think she used to make them in pie form, too. Yum yum yum. And I don't have an oven, so I could recreate them.   The pastry was made with lard, I think, and absolutely no paprika. Butter and onions, and strong cheddar, yes.

She was an excellent cook. I wish I could get my hands on her recipes, but they're lost, along with her. She made a mean cock-a-leekie soup, too.

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Hooray! This recipe doesn't exist in a family culinary Never Never Land. (I too have one side of my family North of England and the other side Scots from Argyle.) Oh I love me a cock-a-leekie soup.

[nickrey]

These sounded wonderful.

That source of all things British in food, the BBC had these and, yes it does use paprika:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database...stie_1330.shtml

Think I'll try them myself.

[maggiethecat]

These sounded wonderful.

That source of all things British in food, the BBC had these and, yes it does use paprika:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database...stie_1330.shtml

Think I'll try them myself.

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D'oh! The BBC, of course -- thank you so much, Nick --. the recipe is really close. But Mummy never precooked the onions, and it was always a big quick family-style rectangle, like my Italian grandmother-in-law's pizza, easy to cut and serve, to say nothing of easier to prepare. And I smiled about the paprika.

But I'm still not sure about the origins.

[Spring]

Try these:

http://www.porthleven-online.com/gpage7.html

http://www.cornishpasties.org.uk/

Im really craving one now, havnt had a cornish pasty in years!

[maggiethecat]

Try these:

http://www.porthleven-online.com/gpage7.html

http://www.cornishpasties.org.uk/

Im really craving one now, havnt had a cornish pasty in years!

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Spring, I've made Cornish pasties a couple of times this year The Official Cornish Pasty website is here, and I love it that it's about protecting the authentic Cornish Pasty.

But I'm probing the origins of the Cheese and Onion Pasty, and would be thrilled to know more about it and other named pasty variations. (The Red Owl in Escanaba Michigan serves up a decent "Cornish" pasty, but I call it a UP pasty.)

[nakji]

And I smiled about the paprika.

Well, being Scottish, my grandmother no doubt felt it was an unnecessary luxury.

Not sure if she precooked the onions or not, though.