Evening star., 1943-11-26

1ileIt Is always something TO-
mantle about pie. Pies 60 far back
into the ancient of days-when the
principal dining utensil was the
knife, which each man carried to use
for variety of jobs. In those days
somebody invented pies. fiat bits of
dough into the middle of which mix
lures of various kinds were placed
Then the dough was folded over and
sealed shut and the pie was baked.
Thus, soon the hungry mortal could
pick up this comestible, either hot
or cold, and start right in without
more ado to enjoy meal Of meat
and gravy and vegetables, all wrap
ped up in a neat and well-baked
bundle. 1t was but step from meat
and vegetables to filings of fruits
and nuts. In time, especially in
America, the fruit pies ran far
ahead of the meat pies, though both
are popular In South America the
little pie is known as an empanada,
and each country-in fact. almost
each town-has its own special IA
vorite.
England is the motherland of the
American pie, with the possible ex-
ception of pumpkin, but it is in a
certain part of England-Cornwall
to be eXact-that one of the most
famous of all the pies calls home
and that is the Cornish pasty. In
modern language, the Cornish pasty
is really "turnover'-a meat and
potato turnover with gravy included.
I have eaten many so-called Cor
nish pastries, some even made with
leftover meats and vegetables. While
they were very good to eat. they
were by no means real Cornish pas
ties. In order to sift out the genu~
Inc from the imitation, we looked 70
Mrs. Beeton's, the great book of Eng
lish recipes. Here is the way it is
made according to Mrs. Beeton:
First the ingredients: For the
pastry: ounces flour, 3 ounces fat,
/ teaspoonful baking powder, ! salt
spoonful of salt. For the mixture:
IA pound of beef, Il pound potato
(parboile6, p teaspoonful of onion
(parboiled and chopped, 2 table
spoonfuls of gravy or water, mixed
herbs, salt and pepper to taste.
The method: Cut the meat and
potatoes into dice, add the onion,
herbs, salt, pepper and gravy, and
mix we'll together. Mix the flour,
baking powder and salt together,
rub in the fat lightly add the water,
being careful not to make the paste
too moist Divide the paste into
eight equal portions, and roll them
out, keeping the portions as round
as possible. Pile the mixture into
the center of each piece of pastry,
wet the edges and join them to-
gether on the top to form an up
standing frill, prick them two or
three times with fork, and bake
in a moderate oven for about one
half an hour.
Now, this is the true Cornish
pasty, and stands at the head of
the class, but there is no great
harm to be done in adventuring
about. However, be sure to call
1t anything but Cornish pasty.
Mince meat (not too dry makes a
grand filling. Slices of apples folded
in, but dotted first with butter,
sugar and a dash of cinnamon
make wonderful turnovers.
But it takes the South American
to really invent filings; filings of
shrimp, oyster, bits of chicken,
SQUAD, veal, game and so on and
on. Chopped onion. minced garlic,
capers, raisins, chopped olives, chop
ped hard boiled egg, chopped to-
mato or tomato sauce, sweep pep
pers, hot peppers, red green and
yellow peppers-whatever seems to
appeal to the South American cook
goes into the filling. The pastry