Falmouth is DELICIOUS!

Our day in Falmouth, Cornwall in southwest England was supposed to involve a long bus ride to the western most point of England (“Land’s End) and the town of St. Ives – which I knew nothing about other than it’s a brand of relatively inexpensive lotions and soaps.  And I still don’t know anything about St. Ives because we never made it there.  Because this:

Visibility was reportedly less than 50 meters
(about 160 feet)

Due to immigration requirements, we were up, dressed, and standing in a long line heading towards the Bayou Café & Steakhouse on Deck 7 by 7:00 this morning. We are still yawning. Three hours later, we had cleared customs, our tour had been canceled, the fog was only sort of starting to lift, and I was hungry. 

Suddenly free for the day, we decided to plod through the fog into the seaport of Falmouth to see if we could satisfy my dad’s one request when we told him our cruise itinerary.  Which is to say, we went in search of an authentic Cornish Pasty.

To those unaware, a Cornish Pasty is a delightful edible. It is sort of an empanada, which means it is meat and veggies stuffed inside a pastry crust which is folded and crimped like a pie. Legend says that the hearty snack was invented and loved by the tin miners in Cornwall since it was filling and tasty while also being easy to eat without utensils or even the need to necessarily scrub tinny hands clean.

When I was in grade school, my family spent a couple of years living in Butte, Montana – known mostly as Evel Knievel’s hometown but also for its rather sizable copper mine. Since Butte was a mining town, it attracted miners who brought their traditions with them. Although my dad was not a miner (instead, he designed computer programs for the mine’s operations), he quickly discovered and fell in love with the pasties available in the older part of town. Hence his request we search for the original version of a lunchtime favorite.

Thanks to some quick Googling and an impressively walkable port area, Rob and I descended upon The Cornish Bakery at 7 Arwenack Street and had BY FAR the very best food of our trip. OH MY GOSH!

Imagine the best beef stew you have ever had, stuffed inside a thick croissant. That is what I had for lunch today. It was insanely delicious. The meat was flavored with all sorts of spices and especially black pepper.  It was accompanied by onions, potatoes, and carrots. And that was it. It was super simple and incredible and probably easy to make and definitely impossible to replicate. I may never have another pasty again since I can’t imagine I will ever find one to match the perfection of the one I had just hours ago.

Grateful for a good knee day
that allowed us to climb some 
steep stairs to allow this lovely
lunchtime view

I quickly determined this is NOT how
you should eat a pasty. I should have
been holding it vertically, in a wrapper.
Since I had been given a plate and utensils,
I quickly began using them.

The inside

This was not posed. I shall forever
remember Falmouth, Cornwall, England
as home of the Gold Standard for all pasties

Still in a happy food coma, we wandered down the street a bit and into a Cornish Cream ice cream store. We finished up The Best Meal All Year with a scoop of Cornish Cream Fudge ice cream made with clotted cream. It was rich, caramelly, just sweet enough without making my teeth hurt, and the inside of my mouth felt like velvet when we were done. It was so delectable, I didn’t slow down to take any photos.

I managed to take one photo while our scoop was
being placed in a tub (really a cup but I like their
word better -- it sounds more indulgent)

If I lived in Falmouth, I would double in size in a matter of weeks. Instead, I will take my memories and calories with me as we sail to our final port before offboarding and embarking on Bucket List Item #3 of our trip.  In the meantime, THANK YOU FOG!! 

The Cornish Bakery lurks near the 
corner