The History of Hand Pies

Hand, or pocket, pies were the very first convenience food. They come in many shapes and sizes and with a rainbow of fillings, both savory and sweet. The most famous hand pies are likely Cornish pasties from England , but most food cultures around the world have some form of hand pie. Here is a little background on some of the more well-known ones:

Cornish Pasties

Cornish pasties date back to the early 1800s in Cornwall England . There is evidence to suggest that they originated in neighboring Devonshire, but the Cornish made them famous. Made of short crust pastry filled usually with beef stew, they were popular with miners' wives, who would bake them up fresh and wrap the hot pies in a towel or newspaper and tuck them into their husbands' pockets. Cornish pasties were the perfect lunch for the miners as their hands were always dirty and often covered in arsenic. They would hold the pasty by its crimped edge to eat it and then throw away the edge. Cornish pasties are still popular pub fare in England today.

Jamaican Patties

Jamaican patties are a staple in that country, and have spread around the world in those pockets of high Jamaican immigration. The Jamaican patty came into existence as a result of English colonial incursion into Jamaica . With the English came turnovers and pasties. The Jamaicans took the basic concept, added spices such as cumin and turmeric to the dough and wrapped it around a spicy ground beef or goat mixture.

Indian Samosas

Although we most commonly associate samosas with India , they are traditional fare in many parts of Asia and Africa . Samosas can trace their history back as far as the eleventh century in Central Asia , making it perhaps the original hand pie. Samosas are most often fried rather than baked and usually contain vegetarian filling combinations such as lentils, potatoes, peas and onions. The dough is cut into triangles rather than crescents and is folded like a 3-point hat. They can be found as a common street food in many parts of Asia .

Spanish Empanadas

Empanadas originated in the Galicia region of Spain as well as in Portugal . They can be traced back as far as the Moorish invasions in Spain in the 1400s. It is believed that they came originally from samosas, commonly made in Arabian regions. The empanada was carried by the Spanish in their conquests and are still popular in Latin America . The traditional empanadas contain some kind of seafood, such as tuna, but they can contain chorizo or ground pork, mostly in a tomato-based sauce. Fruit-filled empanadas are common in Argentina at festivals and parties.

Italian Calzones

Calzones, sometimes also called panzerotti, are often found in cafes and bakeries in Italy . Like traditional pizzas in Italy , real calzones often have few ingredients- sometimes only tomato sauce and mozzarella. They are most often baked. In the United States , calzones often contain pepperoni, onions, peppers, and tomatoes. The origins of calzones, which means "pant leg" in Italian, are unclear, but the pie may have evolved from samosas.

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