Coast’s culinary corner: Cornwall

After writing an article earlier this week about the best regional foods in the UK, we were so inspired by the thought of culinary caravanning that we’ve decided to look a little more in-depth at the best places in Britain to sample local produce.

This week we’re travelling to Cornwall to give you five recommendations on the best places to get a traditional meat pasty!

The Chough Bakery, Padstow
For more than 30 years, the Ead family have run this award-winning pasty shop in Padstow – a village also famous for Rick Stein’s The Seafood Restaurant. The meat for its pasties are sources from a local butcher and their ‘steak and Cornish blue’ offering finished second in the World Pasty Championships.

Horse and Jockey, Helston
This old-fashioned bakery is a firm hit with the locals, so make sure you leave plenty of time to join the queue! It’s also recommended that you order a small or medium pasty as the large one is a force to be reckoned with!

Proper Cornish, Bodmin
If authenticity and attention to detail is what you crave then look no further than Proper Cornish. As the name suggests, this retailer follows traditional methods: this means no carrot in the vegetable mix and crimping along the sides, rather than across the top of the pasty. The exact recipe for the filling is closely guarded secret, handed down through the generations. 

Ann’s Pasties, The Lizard
Tucked away in this Cornwall peninsula is a cookery fanatics dream – a pasty shop where you can sample the goods AND learn the craft! Baker Ann Muller’s produce elevates home baking to another level and she’s happy to show you how to make your own if you ask nicely once the lunchtime rush has died down.

Warrens Bakery, St Just
For a traditional pasty experience, Warrens Bakery is the place to go. The world’s oldest pasty maker has been producing its Cornish delicacies for more than 150 years and even today the pasties are made by hand. Although its pasties are sold throughout Cornwall, visit the original bakery to sample its signature steak recipe straight from the oven.

Martin’s Bakery, St Austell
The more adventurous among you might like to venture to St. Austell, where Martin’s Bakery uses traditional techniques to produce new flavour combinations. If you’re able to steer away from a beef and vegetable pasty then you might want to sample the shop’s alternative flavours, which include bacon and mushroom, cheese and onion and chicken.

Once you’ve sampled the best that Cornwall has to offer, you can always cook up some pasties of your own in your caravan or motorhome! The BBC Good Food website has some great recipes for traditional pasties and vegetarian alternatives. You could even bake a sweet version for dessert!

Coast is a caravan insurance and motorhome insurance expert. To insure your caravan or motorhome for a trip to Cornwall – or anywhere else in the UK – call Freephone 0800 614 849.

Online caravan insurance is also available.