i should probably amend this a bit, i have also heard them called a patty (pronounced: pah-tee)
depends on who you talk to i guess. i would consider the patty (or pasty) there on the lower end of spicy (compared to other stuff i had there). i don't remember it tasting bad.

that wigan kebob though has me leaning hard.

I have had Pastys in Cornwall near the Jamaica Inn on my way to Land's End where I sat in a Pub near a cliff and drank Doom Bar Ale with Raphael Ravenscroft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo6aKnRnBxM

Raphael's most famous sax gig!
Sadly, Raphael passed away last October! Cheers Raphael!

Cool Story, Heraclitis

You can't beat a real Cornish Pasty though, sat on the beach watching the seals play in the surf. I know that pub and the beer, in fact I had several bottles in for Christmas, if we go that far down I prefer Lizards point there is a nice short walk round the headland, just don't try doing it with a 6 month old and a large silver cross pram!.

you have to guard your Pasty well in Cornwall though, the sea gulls there have it sussed. We we are in St Ives, we go there often, the Bakers at the far end of For St there is a see gull that sits on top of the lamp post across the street, and watching the expression on the face of unsuspecting tourists as their pasty flies off across the bay never gets old.

Agnes if you were going to attempt to serve your family any dish that may be termed a traditional English dish, I don't think you should go with a wigan kebab. I do, even if I say so myself, Make a very good shepherds pie and Yorkshire pudding.

just got back in….

heraclitis, that sounds like a blustery late renaissance oil painting.

sorry to hear about raphael ravenscroft though

beverely, my grandparents (now you talk about some funny accents) made a really good shoofly pie…seems like black walnuts were involved (at least in their version of it)

Food names don't always translate very well. That English bread pudding with raisins, sold in a can, has a name that turns off most Americans. I know we're all adults, but due to a rare occurrence of decency I won't post the picture. Don't want to offend anybody.

It might be the best stuff in the world, but just because of the name, you won't ever catch me eating any of it.

If you are ever in Cornwall and want a nice Pasty and a place to meditate on the past (and drink a few pints as well).

I recommend Tintagel! Nice Pasty shop, cool ruins on the cliffs above the sea to climb on and Arthurian legends to boot!

sounds great...thanks for the tip!

Hi Pulp, I amuse you mean Spotted Dick. Spotted dick is meant to be made with suet and raisins and steamed, read and Butter pudding is made layering buttered bread with sugar and raisins, cream and milk then baked. Don't think any would fair well out of a tin, but then most things wouldn't.

Agnes "shoofly pie…seems like black walnuts were involved" I have no idea, didn't even know you could get black walnuts. you'll have to elaborate.

heraclitis, the only shop in Tintagel I am ever interested in is the Fudge shop.

oh….they are just a different kind of walnut. the ones that you usually find in the store taste milder, the black walnut has a bit more robust flavor ? which i like. i like them both though. i think my grand parents had some black walnut trees, as they always used that kind. about a year or so ago i found some at the store and got them, right away i recognized the flavor introduced to me by my grand parents.

beverley, an article about walnuts i came across thought you might enjoy:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/04/what ... -nuts.html

i was talking to someone a little while back who was telling me about blackthorn trees being a favored wood for making shillelaghs/walkingsticks and i don't think i have ever seen one (a blackthorn tree) here. checked out a little about and don't think the trees are very common here? but i think maybe over your way (UK) they are pretty common? through pictures has really dark wood and a kind of spiral of vicious spikes going round the branches (a prick from one prone to turn septic i understand) . but anyway, has first flowers of spring even before it has leaves. first knew about that from a faerie book:

http://lair2000.net/fairy_winter_poems/ ... Fairy.html

anyhow, maybe you have seen some of those trees?

yes Hawthorns and black Hawthorns are very common.... Can't walk past one without tripping over fairies

i don't think hawthorns and black hawthorns are the same as a blackthorn (?)

(i mean to say, i don't think a black hawthorn is the same as a blackthorn (?) )

Black hawthorn and Hawthorn are the same species of bush/tree both gnarly twisting branches full of thorny spears that flower in early spring before their leaves are awake.

Is Blackthorn not just the US name for the the Black Haw Thorn?

the person i was talking with was going on about blackthorns and sloe gin and shillelaghs and walking sticks when i realized i didn't think i'd ever seen a blackthorn tree here. (except for in the faerie book)

i found this video helpful to me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu2JGdSY8tM

I thought they were the same thing, but I'm not a gardener.