Cornish pasty wins protection from EU

TRURO, England, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- The Cornish pasty, a distinctive meat turnover, has become the 43rd British food to win a "protected geographical indication" from the European Union.

It joins such local specialties as Devonshire clotted cream, Melton Mowbray pork pies and a type of smoked haddock from Scotland known as Arbroath smokies, as well as more glamorous continental foods such as Champagne and Gorgonzola cheese, The Guardian reported. Pasties produced outside Cornwall, including neighboring Devon, can still be called pasties but cannot be called Cornish.

Several major supermarket chains said they will comply with the EU designation. But one Devon pasty manufacturer who wanted to remain anonymous told The Daily Telegraph the EU can "go to hell."

Cornish pasties are said to have developed as a cheap, easy-to-carry and easy-to-eat meal for tin miners. The EU regulations specify genuine Cornish pasties must be in the traditional D shape with crimping along the side with ingredients that include minced or chopped meat, potatoes and swedes, the vegetable known outside Britain as rutabaga turnips.

Any pasties that are round, crimped on top or contain carrots are not the genuine Cornish.