Etherington Meats Pastys Review
Etherington Meats
Reviewed by Colin Hewitt
Brian Etherington Meat Co. with sixty years in the butchery trade are suppliers of high quality meats throughout the South West. Their farm shop is located at Wheal Rose, Scorrier, Cornwall where it stocks the very best of Cornish produce (fruit, vegetables, preserves, meat and much more).
From their online shop consumers can purchase Trevethicks Cornish pastys and sausage rolls. Sadly, some peoples only exposure to pastys are the mass produced beige coloured, pastry laden items found lurking in motorway service stations, however a fresh, well-cooked pasty following a traditional recipe is a different taste experience altogether.
The samples, from Etherington Meats, arrived extremely well packaged in a polystyrene box – with ice blocks surrounding the items. I wasn’t sure which courier service was used but the pastys were dispatched and delivered within a day (dispatched 10th March, arriving midday on the 11th March) and it was comforting to see that the goods were still thoroughly frozen.
The pastys sent for review were the Trevethicks Medium Vegetable Pasty and the Medium Steak Pasty. It should be noted that although medium in size they were still quite large.
Cooking instructions were the same for both types; glaze with milk or egg wash (I used milk only) cook for 30 minutes at gas mark 6 (200c/400f) and then for a further 30 minutes at gas mark 4 (180c/350f). I needed to cook the items for slightly longer but I suspect this was due to my oven temperature (as everyone knows all oven temperatures slightly vary) rather than any error within the instructions.
Fresh from the oven, although I only used a milk glaze rather than an egg wash, the pastys had a lovely appetising golden appearance (the house was smelling rather nice as well).
The flaky pastry was crisp and light. Cutting each in half revealed that they were filled to the brim with ingredients, so often with mass produced pies and pastry items the consumer is presented with a large, disappointing air gap. Pasty aficionados will also be pleased to see that the vegetables are ‘chipped’ rather than diced (a true sign that a traditional recipe is being followed).
The only difference between the meat and vegetable variety was the inclusion of 30% beef skirt, it should be noted that the meat was thoroughly mixed in with the vegetables (again unlike certain high street pasty chains which seem to have a separate ‘dollop’ of meat at one end). The seasoning, for my taste, was spot on with a nice strong taste of pepper.
I deliberately left half of each pasty to go cold to see what they would taste like if taken to work as a lunch or used as part of a picnic (believe me, this took a considerable effort after trying them hot). They were still delicious, no residue fat and the pastry didn’t go stodgy.
For the health conscious or people with food allergies, together with the cooking instructions, a full breakdown of ingredients, fat, sugar, calories salt and allergens was included within the package. These pastys couldn’t be further away from the mass produced service-station style imposters and I will be purchasing more from the range in the near future; the full range being Steak, Vegetable, Cocktail Pastys, Sausage Rolls and a mixed ‘trio’ of pastys containing medium Steak, Vegetable and Steak & Stilton pastys.
Prior to this review I had never ordered frozen produce online. Because of my work I am always worried that the items will spoil before I can collect them, however having sampled these goods my fears have been alleviated. If the package can be left with a neighbour I wouldn’t hesitate to order again (especially with such a swift delivery time).
If these pastys are typical of the high quality goods supplied by Ethrington Meats I will be making another order very soon, and will try to make a visit to their farm shop if I am in the area.
Thoroughly delicious.
Rating: 5/5 
RRP: £33.99 (Steak or Vegetable Pastys, 14 per box), £34.99 (Trio of Cornish Pastys, 14 per box).
For more information or to order online visit www.etherington-meats.co.uk.
