00WHAT THE RECORDS SAY

A pie with
papers.

A golden, bow-sided raised pork pie on a wooden board with one slice cut to show the pale pork filling and a layer of jelly under the crust — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Some pies have rules, and the rules have history.

Early pie crusts were sturdy boxes called coffins. Today a Melton Mowbray pork pie and a Cornish pasty can only carry those names if they follow a registered recipe and come from a set place.

PROTECTEDname, place and recipeUpdated 15 October 2026

Spot a real one

01Principles

The crust was the container
The name follows the recipe
The place is on the map
Old bakes, written rules

02THE SHORT ANSWER

Once a box,
now a recipe in law.

Pies began as a way to carry and keep food.
Two British bakes now have their recipes written into the register.

HISTORY

The crust was a coffin

The Folger Shakespeare Library notes that pie crusts were called coffins, a word that first meant a basket or box. Some thick rye crusts were not even eaten.

Read the history

PORK PIE

Bow walls, grey pork

A Melton Mowbray pork pie must use uncured pork, so the filling is the colour of roast pork, with jelly between filling and a bow-walled crust.

Test a pie

PASTY

D-shape, side crimp

A Cornish pasty is beef, potato, swede and onion, sealed raw in a D shape and crimped along one side, and it must be made in Cornwall.

See the numbers

03A QUICK NAME CHECK

Could it carry
the protected name?

Pick a bake to see whether it could be sold under the protected name. The bar shows how closely it fits the registered specification.

Based on the registered UK specifications for Melton Mowbray Pork Pie (PGI) and Cornish Pasty (PGI). Producers must also be verified to use the name.

Name check

Choose a bakeA pork pie with a pink, cured fillingAn uncured pork pie made to the recipe in NottinghamA pasty made in Cornwall with carrot in itA D-shaped beef pasty made to the recipe in DevonA raw beef, potato, swede and onion pasty, side-crimped, baked in Truro

A pork pie with a pink, cured fillingNot a Melton

The specification requires uncured pork, which bakes to the grey colour of roast pork. A pink, cured filling is a different pork pie.

An uncured pork pie made to the recipe in NottinghamCan qualify

The protected area around Melton Mowbray includes the city of Nottingham, as well as Grantham, Stamford and Northampton. The maker must still be verified.

A pasty made in Cornwall with carrot in itNot Cornish

The rules allow no vegetables other than potato, swede and onion in the filling, and no meat other than beef.

A D-shaped beef pasty made to the recipe in DevonRecipe yes, name no

The recipe can be copied, but the protected area is the administrative area of Cornwall. Made elsewhere, it cannot be sold as a Cornish pasty.

A raw beef, potato, swede and onion pasty, side-crimped, baked in TruroCan qualify

This matches the core of the specification. The filling must be uncooked when sealed and the producer verified to use the name.

Sources: GOV.UK protected food name register and the registered specifications for Melton Mowbray Pork Pie and Cornish Pasty.

04TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

How much filling
the rules demand.

Each specification sets a minimum meat content
for the whole bake, pastry included.

30%

Minimum meat in a Melton Mowbray pork pie

The specification says the meat content of the whole pie must be at least 30 percent. Optional extras such as glaze, rusk and starch may not exceed 8 percent in total.

PORK PIE · PGI SPECIFICATION

12.5%

Minimum beef in a Cornish pasty

Beef must be at least 12.5 percent of the whole pasty, and the vegetables at least 25 percent. Extras may make up no more than 5 percent of the filling by weight.

PASTY · PGI SPECIFICATION

The Melton Mowbray pork pie was first registered with the EU on 30 June 2009 and the Cornish pasty on 23 July 2011. Both moved onto the UK scheme on 31 December 2020.

05FOUR THINGS TO LOOK FOR

Read the pie
before you bite.

You do not need a lab to tell a protected bake from a look-alike. The specifications describe what to see on the counter and on the label.

Look at the sides
The specification describes a bow-walled crust: the pies leave their hoops and are baked on a tray without support.
Check the colour inside
Uncured pork bakes grey, like roast pork. A pink filling means cured meat, which the rules do not allow.
Find the crimp
A Cornish pasty is D-shaped with the crimped edge to one side, not a pinched ridge across the top.
Read the label
Both specifications describe a certification number on packaging that traces each bake back to its producer.

A tall, thick-crusted raised pie with a decorated lid standing on a rough wooden table in a dim old kitchen beside a pewter jug — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

06WHY PIES TRAVELLED

Made to be
carried.

Hands crimping the curved edge of a D-shaped beef and vegetable pasty on a floured wooden worktop — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Durham University historian Dr Amanda Herbert notes that in early modern Britain a well-sealed crust could keep a filling fresh for days or weeks before refrigeration, so pies were sent to friends and relatives as gifts.

The pork pie specification records that Melton Mowbray pies were carried by hunt servants as snacks, and that in 1831 Edward Adcock began sending them to London on the daily stagecoach. The Cornish pasty specification describes miners and farmworkers taking pasties to work in their pockets.

07Questions

Questions people ask

Why were pie crusts called coffins?

The Folger Shakespeare Library explains that coffin originally meant simply a basket or box. Early crusts were thick enough to bake without a container, and some rye crusts were not eaten and could even be reused.

What is a protected food name?

GOV.UK says a geographical indication protects a product name from misuse or imitation. No one business owns it: any producer can use the name if they follow the specification and are verified to do so.

Where can a Melton Mowbray pork pie be made?

In the town of Melton Mowbray and a surrounding area bounded by the A52, A1, M1, A45 and A605, which takes in Nottingham, Grantham, Stamford and Northampton.

Can a Cornish pasty contain carrot or lamb?

No. The specification allows no meat other than beef and no vegetables other than potato, swede and onion. Small amounts of other ingredients for flavour or processing are allowed, up to 5 percent of the filling.

Is swede the same as turnip in a pasty?

The specification notes that in Cornwall swede is traditionally called turnip, so the two words are used interchangeably, but the actual ingredient is swede.

08Sources

A pie with
papers.