Pasties from Bristol, Sheffield, Plymouth and Cornwall triumphed at the ninth World Pasty Championships at the Eden Project on Saturday, February 29.
Vanessa Farr, who won in the prestigious Cornish Pasty Amateur category, is part of a dedicated group of friends from from Bristol who have been attending the competition since the first one in 2012. She previously won the category at the championships in 2017 and bagged third place in 2013 and 2014 and second place last year (2019).
Vanessa bakes her competition pasties in Padstow to ensure they can be defined as Cornish. “I think it’s amazing and hilarious to be crowned champion once again,” she said. “Consistency is the key. There’s so much variation in the Open Savoury categories, but the Cornish pasty categories only allow a finite number of ingredients and you can only make little tweaks to improve. I think Cornish pasties are the only pasties.
Daisy Lovejoy, eight, from Plymouth was victorious in the Cornish Pasty Junior class, and came third in the Open Savoury Junior section with a pasty filled with lasagne.
She’s the latest in a fine Plymothian pasty lineage, with elder sister Summer a previous champion and dad Jon boasting a staggering five second place awards to his name. The Open Savoury Junior category was won by Jodie Heath, 14, from Bodmin with a sweet and sour chicken pasty.
Top honours in the Open Savoury Amateur class went to Jan Micallef from Sheffield for a goat’s cheese, pear and walnut pasty. Jan, who came to the Championships with husband Paul and mother Pam, said: “To win is absolutely fantastic. I’m really excited. This is going to be my Facebook picture now. We will celebrate - I’m going to have a wonderful pint of Proper Job ale.”
David Timmins from St Columb Road claimed his third World Pasty Championships title with the Cornish Pasty Professional gong, while Nick Brown from Liskeard claimed his second with the Open Savoury Professional for his ham hock, cheddar and apple chutney pasty.
The Phat Pasty Co., from Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire but inspired by family and holidays in Cornwall, won the coveted Cornish Pasty Company category, while last year’s winners, Rowe’s Cornish Bakers, were victorious in the Open Savoury Company category with their chicken, leek, potato and onion pasty.
Dave Meneer, head judge of the World Pasty Championships since the beginning, was given the coveted Pasty Ambassador award for his outstanding contribution to the competition. He led a team of more than 40 judges, who evaluated some 200 pasties, mainly from Cornwall but including entries from Canada and the USA.
The full list of winners is:
Cornish Pasty Company
First – The Phat Pasty Co.
Second – Cornish Premier Pasties (hand-layered gourmet)
Third – Cornish Premier Pasties (mixed gourmet)
Open Savoury Company
First – Rowe’s Cornish Bakery with a chicken, leek, potato and onion pasty
Second – The Pure Pasty Co. with a lamb jalfrezi pasty
Third – The Pure Pasty Co. with a cheese and onion pasty
Cornish Pasty Professional
First – David Timmins from St Columb Road
Second – David Collings from Fowey
Third – Phil Price from Bodmin
Open Savoury Professional
First – Nick Brown from Liskeard with a ham hock, cheddar and apple chutney pasty
Second – Jack Edensor from Bodmin with a garlic chicken and wild mushroom pasty
Third – Jill Martin from Deal, Kent with a lentil, tomato, ginger, celery and mushroom pasty
Cornish Pasty Amateur
First – Vanessa Farr from Bristol
Second – Terry O’Connor from County Longford, Ireland
Third – Emma Pugsley from London
Open Savoury Amateur
First – Jan Micallef from Sheffield with a goat’s cheese, pear, shallot and walnut pasty
Second – Lois Wild from Truro with a black olive, cheese and sweet red pepper pasty
Third – Steve Foreman from Bristol with a venison, port and wild mushroom pasty
Cornish Pasty Junior
First – Daisy Lovejoy, aged eight, from Plymouth
Second – Arran Kerr, eight, from Callington
Third – Izaac Rogers, 10, from Newquay
Open Savoury Junior
Frist – Jodie Heath, 14, from Bodmin with a sweet and sour chicken pasty
Second – Amy Meredith, 10, from Porthleven with a chilli sausage ragu pasty
Third – Daisy Lovejoy, eight, from Plymouth with a lasagne pasty
