Everyone arrived to work on Friday wearing nighties, dressing gowns and slippers, thats over 100 pyjama clad staff members, who all made a donation to the charity.

We also ran a week long pasty sale, a cake sale on Children in Need day, and a raffle for a giant Pudsey bear cupcake.

The Crantock team in their pyjamas.

Catherine Webster marketing manager here at Crantock’s was delighted with the response, saying: “Everyone has really got into the spirit of it – we’ve seen some great outfits and it’s been very cheery day.

“The idea came from Becci Irons who thought it would be good to find a way of raising money which involved everyone in the company, and thought dressing up would be a great way to get the whole team to take part.”

It was the first time the 120 strong team have collectively taken part in a fundraising event, with staff on both the morning and evening shifts creating Crantock’s products wearing their nightwear under their protective clothing.

Our delivery driver Wayne Lomas won the raffle for the giant Pudsey cupcake at the end of a morning delivering pasties on the Cornish roads wearing just his pyjamas

Our visitors came from the mining town of Real del Monte and travelled over 4,500 miles for a week-long Cornish visit.

As well as learning about our production processes and baking techniques, the group also tried their hand at crimping Cornish-style, shown to them by our crimping staff.

Learning how to hand crimp the Cornish pasties

Tracey Weeks our operations manager said: “I think they were surprised to learn how fast the team on our crimping line work – we hand-crimp up to four pasties a minute on average, and their technique was different too as the Mexican pasties are typically smaller than a traditional Cornish pasty.”

The historical links between Cornwall and Real del Monte date all the way back to 1824 when Cornish mineworkers settled in the area to help rebuild the struggling mining industry in Mexico.

Today, Real del Monte is the home of pasty production in Mexico; the Mexican version of the product is called the paste and is made to a slightly modified recipe, costing 10 pesos (50 pence).

Our visitors from Mexico

The group is in the county on a fact finding mission ahead of the opening of the world’s first Pasty Museum in March 2012 in the town, two hours from Mexico City.

Real del Monte also holds the world’s only International Pasty Festival which took place for the third time in October this year attracting 20,000 pasty lovers.

Jaime Soto said: “Everyone we have met has been very interested in the history of the Cornish miners in our area and it has been a wonderful opportunity to spread the word over here about the Pasty Museum. We hope that one day we will be able to return the hospitality in Real del Monte.”

One of the oldest historical references to the pasty dates back to the reign of King Henry III in the 13th century. In those days there was little difference between pies and pasties, with the terms being used to describe an inedible “paste” of flour and water which was formed into “coffyns” containing rich stews of venison and porpoise.

Pasties were a favoured food of the nobility, with King Henry having a penchant for the lamprey pasty. This scaleless eel-like fish was highly prized by the King, who in 1242 commanded the Bailiffs of Gloucester to “send pasties of salmon and lampreys as quickly and frequently as they can to the King.”

The pasty as we know it today was made possible in the 1460s with the introduction of edible pastry from Italy, and during the 16th and 17th centuries the venison pasty became more popular with the Britons.

The diaries of Samuel Pepys (1660-1669) contain many references to venison pasties, with the shortcrust pastry an integral part of the hand-held meal.

However, it was not until Cornwall’s tin and copper mining industry took off in the early 19th century that the beef, potato and swede filling that we recognise as today’s Cornish pasty became popular.

Keen baker Nicki Foley has cooked up the new pasty recipe using the meat from grey squirrel as a filling seasoned with with juniper berries and bacon.

The Cornish Food Box Company in Truro have started selling prepared squirrel meat, which is free-range and sustainable due to its healthy diet of nuts and berries, at £2.95 each.

Lucy Jones who runs The Cornish Food Box with her sister told the Daily Mail: “At a time when people are looking closely at food miles and ethics, Grey squirrel is the ultimate in environmentally sustainable meat.”

“Some people say they’re cute but if you’re willing to eat lamb then why not squirrel?”

Lucy Jones of The Cornish Food Box and keen baker Nicki Foley enjoying her squirrel pasty

This is not the first time a squirrel pasty has been created: Paul Parker who is the founder of the Red Squirrel Protection Partnership, which has caught over 22,000 grey squirrels, told The Guardian in 2009 that they are in high demand.

Personally I would take a traditional Cornish steak pasty any day.

If you have ever had the pleasure of attending a Cornish rugby match you might have missed the pasty throwing tradition, but you will be familiar with a popular spectator chant – “Oggy Oggy Oggy, Oi Oi Oi”, but do you know where those beloved words came from?

Legend has it that Cornish miners’ wives used to shout “Oggy Oggy Oggy” as they threw their pasties down the mine shaft to their husbands, who replied “Oi Oi Oi”.

The miners wives must have been on to something because now Australian sports fans can be heard shouting their own version:

In the early 18th century many Cornish miners emigrated to Australia in search of work and with them took Cornish traditions.

It seems it’s not just the Cornish who love an Oggy.

The latest video from underground Cornish comedy star The Kernow King is a veritable paean to pasties, we thought we just had to share it with you. Enjoy. . . .

So it came as no suprise this week to read the results of a survey conducted by Aunt Bessie’s which has found that the Cornish pasty is consumed in greater numbers in other areas of the UK than in the South West.

A pasty is not just for the Cornish.

What comes as more of a surprise is that the people of Swansea eat more pasties then we do here in Cornwall, preferring an oggy over their traditional Welsh rarebit.

The survey was carried out to promote National Yorkshire pudding week, another regional dish consumed more regularly outside of its native county.

Clare Field, Marketing Director at Aunt Bessie’s said: ”The national survey showed that people are very loyal to foods named after their town, city or region.”

I couldn’t agree with that more, as we Cornish are very proud of our traditional pasties and want people in every county to enjoy them.

What’s your favourite regional food? Let us know in the comments section below.

The public poll saw a massive 22,000 food lovers vote for their top foodie destination this summer, in honour of the 10th anniversary of my favourite national celebration, British Food Fortnight.

It got quite tense during the final stages of the voting when it became a neck and neck race between Cornwall (35.7%) and Lincolnshire (39.6%).

Even though we missed out on the top spot, here in Cornwall we are still celebrating the amazing food we have to offer – not least a traditional Cornish pasty with the seal of approval granted by Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status.

The traditional Cornish pasty has PGI status

On behalf of Cornwall Ruth Huxley, Managing Director of Cornwall Food & Drink who did a great job in championing Cornish food, said: “There is quite simply no other part of Britain that has what we have here.

“We have so much to thank nature for – our famed clotted cream comes from the rich milk of the contented cattle that graze the lush green pastures on our rolling hillsides; clean, mild Atlantic air and gentle, warm rain nurture our crops and, surrounded by sea on three sides, a variety of fresh fish to match anywhere in the world.

“What’s happened in the past decade is the marriage of these natural assets and traditional values with contemporary energy and flair.  The result: a stunning new range of foods and drinks and a whole new level of quality that has positioned Cornwall well and truly on the world stage. In the past couple of years, we’ve boasted the world’s supreme champion cheese and a world title for sparkling wine!”

So lets all have a traditional Cornish pasty to celebrate!

From Hollywood A-listers to celebrating pasties in Mexico, the Cornish pasty world is never dull.

I have been finding it hard to choose my favorite story, so I looked at which posts you found the most intriguing.

Here are the five most popular pasty posts:

1. The man who took pasties to America – One Cornishman has made pasties the food of choice in Arizona with his popular restaurant Cornish Pasty Co. Dean Thomas started with his Nan’s traditional recipe and has gone on to develop some unique flavours of pasties.

2.  Traditional genuine Cornish pasty recipe - You seem to love our award-winning traditional Cornish pasties as much as we do and want to know how to make Crantock’s best selling pasty at home. Our recipe tells you how.

3. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie set to enjoy Cornish pasty – Brangelina
caused quite a stir in Falmouth whilst Brad was filming scenes for his new movie
‘World War Z’ in August. We had a bit of fun creating pictures of what Hollywood starlet Angelina Jolie would look like eating an Oggie.

4. Jamie Oliver’s Cornish cowboy pasties-  The popular TV chef created his
own US-inspired version of a pasty on his Channel 4 show ‘Jamie’s American Road Trip’. Although it is not a traditional Cornish pasty, Jamie’s version has really gained a lot of interest.

5. What do you serve with a Cornish pasty- Personally I believe that a traditional Cornish pasty is a meal in itself, however some people believe a pasty is best with
condiments, chips or even salad. Take a look at the different pasty serving suggestions.

What has been your favourite pasty story in the past year? Let us know in the comments area below and we’ll tweet our favourites.

The Cornish Pasty Man.

Crantock Bakery, one of the leading producers of Cornish pasties, made just under 20 million pasties in 2008. Their traditional Cornish steak pasty is still the most popular, but with more than 30 different fillings produced at the Newquay bakery there’s still some currency in the old wives’ tale that the only thing a Cornish woman wouldn’t put in a pasty is the Devil!

Over 90% of Crantock Bakery’s pasties are sold outside Cornwall these days, through independent bakers, specialist pasty shops and in supermarket bakeries.

Crantock Bakery’s 27,000 sq ft premises have been purpose-built to enable the production of up to 140,000 pasties a day – each one crimped by hand in the traditional Cornish way.

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