A Cornish mistake?

Recently Cornish pasties have been added to the long list of foodstuffs now granted the status of ‘Protected Geographical Indication’, meaning that any Pasties not made in Cornwall cannot masquerade as Cornish but must live under another name. But after fighting for nine years for this special recognition, is it really worth it?

When one buys a Cornish pasty we do not question its heritage and where it originally came from, however neither do we assume that all Cornish pasties we see were manufactured in Cornwall. Although it may be right for Cornwall to refuse pasties made in Scotland to claim to be Cornish, will it actually aid Cornwall? By preventing any pasties not made in Cornwall from bearing their name surely the prevalence of the Cornish pasty will diminish and slowly its heritage will fade out of the public eye.

Something that confuses me with this scheme is how status is granted and why some foods are refused. For example the Yorkshire Pudding has been refused such a status due to the fact that it is such a generic phrase that people would not be able to manufacture them elsewhere and call them simply Puddings as this would have a whole other meaning. So if ‘Yorkshire’ refers to the style of pudding, why can it not just be accepted that ‘Cornish’ refers to a style of pasty?

Another reason for refusal from the scheme is the quantity in which some foods are consumed including Cheddar Cheese. It is said that so much Cheddar Cheese is consumed in America alone that Cheddar would not be able to feasibly produce enough to fulfil demands, but surely Cornwall cannot produce enough Cornish pasties alone to feed the nation.

The stricter side of the scheme however shows what can happen if you enter your product too hastily for a grant and forget the repercussions. ‘Newcastle Brown Ale’ used to be on the list of restrictions so it could only be brewed in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. What the company seemed to forget was that if they moved location, say across the river to Gateshead as they did in 2004,  they would no longer be able to produce ‘Newcastle Brown Ale’. Luckily the company appealed to the European Union authorities and managed to have the restriction revoked.

Let’s hope the makers of the Cornish pasties don’t decide to move or they’ll vanish altogether!