Lostwithiel - in search of the perfect pasty

Cornwall is famous for it's food - clotted cream, Cornish fudge, Cornish heavy cake, Cornish fairings, Cornish ice-cream, Cornish pasties and Saffron cake are just some of the great Cornish foods that come to mind.  Not to mention fantastic fish (and not just in Padstein Padstow).


I've not managed to get to Cornwall since I started this blog, so a visit was well overdue.  I decided to stay in Lostwithiel, once the Duchy capital and some now say is the food capital of Cornwall.  We stayed at Penrose Bed and Breakfast, which I can thoroughly recommend and enjoyed bacon and sausage from Liddicoats and eggs from a nearby farm.


I decided this was the place to find the perfect Cornish Pasty:

My first point of call was Fran's Pantry:

as my Internet research had suggested they make some of the best.


Fran's Pantry
1A Quay Street
Lostwithiel
Cornwall
PL22 0BS 


Tel: 01208 872407


Web: http://franspantry.com


I didn't have to go very far (well next door) to find some competition!  Lostwithiel Bakery:

was highly recommended by some of the locals.  Apparently one of the secrets of a good Cornish pasty is to keep it in the oven for a while, after it's baked.

Lostwithiel Bakery
2 Quay Street
Lostwithiel 
Cornwall
PL22 0BS


Tel: 01208 873233


I continued my research by going up Fore Street, where I found a rather fine deli (which will be the subject of my next post).  I thought this would be a good place to find out who made the best pasty, but guess what, they couldn't be impartial as they also made them:

Whilst their brie and cranberry pasties may suit vegetarians, I went for a traditional one:

I was rather pleased that they did mini pasties as there's only so many you can eat in a day!

Bellamama Deli
24 Fore Street
Lostwithiel
Cornwall
PL22 0BL


Tel: 01208 872524


www.bellamama.biz


I thought that Londis, at the top of Fore Street, might be neutral territory to conduct my research.  But they sold Proper Cornish:

 who won Best Cornish Pasty at The British Pie Awards 2010!


We then went to the Eden Project, where a very helpful man called Stewart (aka Stew) told me that the best Cornish Pasties were in fact made by his wife!  I'll see if I can get the recipe, but he was emphatic that the meat should not be minced and his wife always used beef skirt from Liddicoats, the butchers in Lostwithiels:

  I called in to Liddicoats, where they did have beef skirt:

but when I told the butcher the story he told me that Liddicoats also made pasties, which they sold as frozen so that tourist could take them home to bake...


Liddicoats
11 Fore Street
Lostwithiel
Cornwall
PL22 0BW


Tel: 01208 872428


So who makes the best Cornish Pasty? I've decided it would be unfair to rely on just one person's opinion, so I've decided to do a survey.  When I looked at the Cornish Pasty Association's web site I was surprised at how many there are (I've added a few - and apologies to anyone I've missed).  To take part please click here, I'll make the winners known when I've had a reasonable response.