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Barbarian-sized hunger at the Ren Faire? Grab a pasty. |
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Written by Leah Greenstein/special to the World
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Tuesday, 12 September 2006 |
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“Wife, bid these gentlemen welcome. Come, we have a hot venison pasty to dinner: come gentlemen, I hope we shall drink down all unkindness.”
— William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wives of Windsor”
If Burning Man is the artist’s chance to let her freak flag for a week in the Nevada desert, then the Truckee Ren Faire (that’s a Renaissance Faire to the uninitiated) is the same opportunity for poets and history buffs. If you’ve never attended a Renaissance Faire, think of a participatory cross between Medieval Times and a Shakespeare Festival, complete with jousting, jesters and lots of cleavage. For gustatory adventurers, a Renaissance Faire is also a great opportunity to sample period foods, such as tasty pasties from The Pastie Bakery.
A pasty — pronounced with a short ‘a’ like apple, not like an exotic dancer’s wardrobe accouterments; and also sometimes spelled with an ‘ie’ — is a short crust savory pastry pocket filled with seasoned meat, potatoes and turnips. They are said to have originated in Cornwall centuries ago — mentions of them are found in Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and “All’s Well That Ends Well,” and in a letter from a baker to the third wife of 16th century monarch Henry the VIII.
Pasties are known as an early form of fast food, a meal-to-go for 19th century Cornish tin miners. Bakers would mark the pasties with the miner’s initials and make them with custom fillings and they were sturdy enough to be dropped down the mine shaft. Separate pastry compartments would keep the meat and vegetables separate and some bakers even added a third compartment with sweetened fruit fillings for dessert.
At The Pastie Bakery, Fairgoers are treated to pasties made by the Rowe family from a true, 400-year old Cornish recipe. Each pasty, be it chicken, beef, ham, or spinach and cheese, is baked fresh on site at each event.
“We put a lot of fresh meat, potatoes, veggies and love into every pasty we make,” says Cathy Rowe, wife and mother of the booth’s current operators, Steve and Steven Rowe. “Our fruit pasties are [made with] sliced fruits, not jams or jellies; we use fruits and sugar and sweet dough. They are nice to eat warm, all plump and juicy.”
And they’re authentic.
People often return to the Rowe’s booth just to tell them: “Just like the pasties we had in England, or just like mama used to make, or true Cornish pasties down to the turnips.”
“That puts a smile on our face, to know we were able to bring back family memories,” said Cathy. “Making pasties takes a lot of time. It is a talent that is falling by the wayside. There still are some companies out there producing pasties, but getting fewer and fewer.”
Since I’d never had a pasty before I learned about The Pastie Bakery, and their pasty recipe is kept under lock and key (a trade secret, jokes Cathy), I dug up a recipe and attempted to make one myself.
Feeling ambitious, I chose a recipe that allowed me to make the pastry dough myself, which seemed simple enough: flour, water, salt and shortening. Well, simple is a relative term, especially when baking in the mountains.
My pastry crust was a little dry so I kept adding water as the recipe recommended. It was still crumbly, but I was a bit nervous about adding too much making my pasty pasty.
For the filling, I chopped up onion, rutabaga, potato and flank steak, sprinkling small amounts in six-inch rounds. With historical accuracy in mind I kept the meat and the vegetables separate on the inside with a little pastry partition, sprinkled the whole thing with salt, pepper, a little more flour and threw on a couple pats of butter for good measure. The recipe I used (from a British newspaper) didn’t call for any additional seasonings, so I didn’t add any. Then I folded the round in half, crimped the edges together and brushed the outside with a little egg wash. I put my pasties in a 400-degree oven for 15 minutes and then lowered the temperature to 350-degrees and baked them until they were golden brown.
The results? Let’s just say I’m looking forward to try one of The Pastie Bakery’s pasties at the Truckee Renaissance Faire. The meat and veggies inside were edible, but overcooked. I think I left them in the oven too long trying to brown the crusts. The pastry was so crumbly I couldn’t even dream of picking the thing up to eat it with my hands, let alone dropping it down a mine shaft and expecting it to stay together. Overall, the best thing about my homemade pasty experience was the Guinness I drank with it. Oh well, some cooking is better left for the pros.
Lucky for me, until the Ren Faire, Jiffy’s Pizza delivers.
More renaissance treats at the faire
In addition to The Pastie Bakery, three other food and drink vendors will be at the Truckee Renaissance Faire:
The Temple of Siam will prepare Asian cuisine including rice, chow mein, skewers of chicken and beef, and more. They will also have a fresh squeezed lemonade stand.
Folks needing to cool off will want to head to the Yo Olde Shave Ice, Coffee Inn stand which will feature shaved ice of in many different flavors and coffee drinks.
For period-appropriate adult beverages, a Mead and Ale stand will be set up with authentic mead.
For more on the Truckee Renaissance Faire, read the following stories:
'Tis time for the Truckee Renaissance Faire
The art of the joust
Speaketh liketh a true renaissance lord or lady
There be pirates in Truckee! Soon there will be privateers.
For even more information, please see www.TruckeeRenFaire.org.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 September 2006 )
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