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The Cornish Pasty

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Cornwall

Mexican pasties

Pastes

Dear Pastyphiles - This is one of those pages where I have no personal experience and can only cite published sources to do with Mexican pasties.

Answers.com - pasty gives a lot of information, including this:

"Pasties may also be found in the Mexican state of Hidalgo, and the cities of Pachuca and Real del Monte, two cities with notable Cornish influences, and are considered typical local cuisine. Mexican pasties are often served stuffed with typically Mexican ingredients, such as tinga and mole sauce . In Mexican Spanish, they are referred to as pastes."

"Tinga" is a Mexican dish made from shredded chicken.
"Mole sauce" is a spicy Mexican sauce usually having a base of onion, chillies,  
  nuts or seeds, and unsweetened chocolate and served with meat or poultry.

Mexican Pastes
Mexican Pastes
Source: The original source for the photograph has disappeared
but there is a pastes link here: Wikipedia - Estadi de Hidalgo

 

TIMESONLINE gave this, from The Times, October 1, 2005 (now deleted):

"A case of pasty la vista for the hungry miners of a Mexican town

One of Cornwall's best-known exports has become the staple diet of silver miners in a remote region of Mexico. The humble Cornish pasty has been elevated to the position of local delicacy, alongside tacos, tamales and refried beans by the addition of a handful of green chillies that give it an authentic picante taste. The pasty was imported to Mexico in the 19th century by Cornish tin miners, who were in demand around the world for their skills at hard-rock mining. Their traditional dish lingered longer in Real del Monte, central Mexico, than the miners themselves.

Pasties are so popular in the town, which lies amid green hills north of Mexico City, that they appear more often on the menu than tacos and enchiladas. The pasty does not seem to have spread to other areas of Mexico, remaining confined to Real del Monte.

Ann Muller, of the Lizard Pasty Shop, said: "Wherever there is mining in the world, you will find a Cornish pasty recipe somewhere nearby."

 

Wikipedia - Empanada gives .....

"Mexican empanadas are most commonly a dessert or breakfast item and tend to contain a variety of sweetened fillings; these include pumpkin, yams, sweet potato, and cream, as well as a wide variety of fruit fillings. Meat, cheese, and vegetable fillings are less common, but still well-known and eaten fairly regularly in Mexico; certain regions like the state of Hidalgo are famous for the empanadas, which are the favorite local dish. You can find savoury and sweet varieties of those also known as pastes."

NB - "Pastes" are the pasties described above on this page

 

Something extra from Wikipedia.org - Cornish_emigration .....

"In the State of Hidalgo in central Mexico a local speciality originates from the Cornish pasty, called pastes which was introduced by miners and workers from Cornwall who were contracted in the silver mining towns of Mineral del Monte and Pachuca. The majority of migrants to this region came from what we now term the Cornish "central mining district" of Camborne and Redruth. Mineral del Monte's steep streets, stairways and small squares are lined with low buildings and many houses with high sloping roofs and chimneys which indicate a Cornish influence. It was the Cornish who first introduced football to Pachuca and indeed Mexico, while Mexican remittances helped to build the Wesleyan Chapel in Redruth the 1820s. The twin silver mining settlements of Pachuca and Real del Monte are being marketed in 2007 as 'Mexico's Little Cornwall' by the Mexican Embassy in London and represent the first attempt by the Spanish speaking part of the Cornish diaspora to establish formal links with Cornwall. The Mexican Embassy in London is also trying to establish a town twinning arrangement with Cornwall."

Here we have another piece of pasty history in that Cornish miners took their Cornish pasties all the way to Mexico. There is a strong connection between Cornwall, pasties, Hayle and Mexico.

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