Traditional Devon Food and Drink

The wonderful county of Devon is situated in the south west of England and is not only known for its sandy beaches and wonderful countryside but also for its glorious local recipes and ingredients.

The Devon pasty is by far the most well known of Devon’s cuisine exports. With its mix of beef, sliced potatoes and vegetables the pasty has gone from strength to strength over the past 20 years with many new flavours and styles being created every day.

There has always been a slight difference of opinion on whether the Devon pasty was created before the Cornish variety. Back in 2006 a researcher found evidential proof of the making of a Devon pasty in a receipt book, with information dating back to the sixteenth century contained reference to the cost of making a pasty from venison reared at the Mount Edgcumbe estate near the Tamar valley. Making the Devon pasty a clear winner by over 200 years against the Cornish pasty.

It is often said that the Pasty was invented originally by the wives of miners; the pasty was thought to have had a great advantage over food types due to its tough texture. The miners would be able to eat the contents of the pasty and throw away the exterior that would be covered in mud and dust.

Another popular food item is the Devon Cream Tea which consists of Tea served with scones, cream and jam. The cream used very often is Devon clotted cream. Clotted cream is made by heating unpasteurised milk and leaving it in shallow pans for several hours. In this time the cream will rise and clot which gives it its unusual texture and colour. Cream teas are also very popular around the world, for example in Australia and New Zealand they are called Devonshire Teas and in America they are Devon Teas and often served in the afternoon.

Evidence has shown that Cream Teas date back to the eleventh century; Monks at Tavistock abbey are reported to have been consuming bread with cream and jam for several hundred years.

Traditional Devon Food and Drink