Now in its third year, Cornish Pasty Week returns this month, showcasing Cornwall’s culinary triumph across the globe.

Running from February 23-29, Cornish Pasty Week celebrates the original on-the-go food that once fuelled hungry Cornish miners but has stood the test of time to become one of the world’s best-loved foods and a cornerstone of Cornwall’s economy.

Independent research in 2019 found that the Cornish Pasty is one of the most widely recognised foods in Britain and a more recent survey of 2,000 people placed eating a Cornish Pasty up at number 20 on their ultimate top 50 ‘bucket list’.

Jason Jobling, chairman of the Cornish Pasty Association, said: “We know the Cornish Pasty is in a league of its own when it comes to flavour, convenience and heritage, but we are nevertheless always astounded by the way so many people seem to take the Cornish Pasty to their hearts.

“It’s definitely got a lot to do with the love there is for this beautiful county, and the happy times people have here, but I believe it’s also because it’s such an uncomplicated product, filled with fresh, natural, well-balanced ingredients that satisfy the appetite and the soul.”

This is, of course, the first Cornish Pasty Week since the UK left the EU and many people have asked about the impact of Brexit on the PGI – the EU’s legal protection that ensures only producers of genuine pasties, made in Cornwall to a specified recipe, can be sold as Cornish Pasties.

Happily, the UK will have its own UKGI (Geographical Index) from January 1 of next year. Jobling added: “At least as far as sales within the UK are concerned, we’re reassured that the scheme will maintain the existing EU protections so it’s therefore going to be very much ‘business as usual’ for us.”

The week features a quest to find the world’s fastest crimper and culminates in the World Pasty Championships at the Eden Project.