Despite its association with North Eastern chavs and single mothers, Greggs the bakers has become a standard food outlet in towns across the country. Enter Sunderland and you’re hit with the sight of a whopping 15 Greggs in the city centre alone, according to the “one Greggs to each chav” Facebook group.
But now that EU rulings regarding regional food products have been put into practice for a particularly popular product, the nation’s favourite baker will no doubt struggle to produce our most-loved pasty.
You may have heard that the Cornish pasty was officially awarded protected status by the European Commission a fortnight ago. The ruling exists to protect local economies and heritage, which seems fair enough. However, for a pasty to qualify as truly “Cornish” since the ruling, it must be a D-shape and crimped on one side, with a “chunky” filling consisting of beef, swede, potato and onion. Of course, it must also be made in Cornwall. Since Greggs’ Cornish pasties also includes peas and definitely aren’t all made in Cornwall, it’s likely that they’ll be ripped off the shelves and replaced with a new name.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: one bakery is going to have to change the name of one pasty, big deal. And you’d be right, it really isn’t a big deal in this case. But the effect of this new ruling is going to hit independent bakeries and ‘The Cornish Pasty Bakery’ alike.
Where is the line drawn? Will rural men of Yorkshire apply for the protection of their county’s favourite accompaniment to a Sunday Roast? What about the protection of Lancashire Hotpot? Or Kendal Mint Cake? Or the Cumberland sausage?
I accept and appreciate that the Cornish wish to preserve their local identity and continue to employ the thousands of workers in their region who work in the pasty industry. But the Cornish Pasty Association’s claim that we are “helping to protect the British food legacy” is a little farfetched.
Whenever you ask for a carbonara in a restaurant, its makeup will be different. Each chef has his own recipe and will add slightly less cream or slightly more ham (or prosciutto, or bacon, or Culatello). The same is with any pizza, or any soup, or any, well, anything. Ensuring that a particular pasty is made with particular ingredients seems a shame; we’ll lose the touch of many experienced bakers who have developed their own recipe over time. We’ll lose little gems and tweaks and techniques that make the pastries from our favourite independent outlets unique; the little things that make us value our local stores.
I’d say the protection of the “Cornish Pasty” is just one more thing adding to our nation’s apparent desire for standardisation: across restaurants, hotels, cinemas and now regional food produce? Let’s learn to revel in our differences, and the little charms that draw us to the indies of this world. There is simply no need to standardise recipes to this degree. Let’s avoid merging to become the same.