All language subtitles for Inside.the.Factory.S05E05.Cornish.Pasties.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-BurCyg_track3_[eng]

The Cornish pasty,
this pastry-based meal

for one is a British classic.

[music playing]
[sizzling]

We get through 120
million of them a year.

Laid end to end, that's enough
to stretch from here to Bangkok

and back.

To be labeled as
Cornish pasties,

every single one of them
needs to be made in Cornwall.

[GREGG WALLACE]
That's because, legally,

they have protected
geographical status.

You can't go making
them anywhere else.

So to find out
how they're made,

I've come here to the
biggest Cornish pasty factory

in the world.

Whoa!
That's a swede avalanche!

[GREGG WALLACE]
I'm Greew Wallace.

- Oh, it's stuck.
- Now you've ruined--

- It's sticking it!
- It's sticking.

[GREGG WALLACE]
And I'm getting a much-needed

lesson in pastry management--

- Whoa.
- [DAVID IRON] Whoa!

- [GREGG WALLACE]
- -and flavorful fillings.

[RICHARD BAIN] For a
proper Cornish pasty,

it's got to be baked
from raw ingredients.

I didn't know that.

[CHERRY HEALEY]
I'm Cherry Healey.

I'll be getting
to the root of what

goes into this savory treat.

- Ah, it's really hard.
- I know. Now a little bit more.

[CHERRY HEALEY]
[laughs] It's like I'm

- carving a Sunday roast.
- [laughs]

[GREGG WALLACE]
And historian RUTH GOODMAN

is unearthing the truths behind
some common pasty myths.

I've heard the
crimp around the edge

was used just as a handle.

Sorry, I'm not going
to go along with this.

You're not convinced?

[whirring]

[GREGG WALLACE] Over
the next 24 hours,

180,000 Cornish pasties

will fly out
the door of this bakery.

Welcome to "Inside the Factory."

[music playing]

[music playing]

This is the Ginsters
bakery in the town

of Callington, Cornwall.

This 20 acre site
makes over 3 million

savory pastries every week.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE] From chicken
and mushroom to steak slices.

But today, we're
looking at how they make

their large Cornish pasties.

In order to be called Cornish,
they not only have to be made

in Cornwall, but
they can only contain

three specific vegetables--
onion, potato and swede.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE]
The first of today's vegetable

deliveries is arriving at
the bakery's intake area.

Where I'm meeting Production
Director Richard Bain.

- Good morning.
- And to you.

What have you got there,
fresh batch of swedes?

[RICHARD BAIN] Exactly right.

So how much swede have
you got in here now?

- 2.1 tons on this delivery.
- 2.1 ton of swede?

We're making a lot of pasties.
We've got to keep

- the swede rolling.
- [GREGG WALLACE] How many

- pasties will that make?
- [RICHARD BAIN] We'd

expect this delivery
to make 184,000 pasties.

- Crikey.
- Come on, let's have a look.

- [RICHARD BAIN] All right.
- Get it unloaded.

[GREGG WALLACE]
Our pasty production begins.

[beeping]

Brilliant!

[GREGG WALLACE]
This tough little root veg

was first introduced
to the UK in the 18th century.

Today, farmers sow its seeds
in the early summer and harvest

in the autumn and winter.

Cherry is lending a hand.

It's 8:00 AM, and
swede dreams are

about to be made right here.

[music playing]

[CHERRY HEALEY] This
550 acre farm in Devon grows

12,500 tons of swedes a year.

Farm Manager, Richard
Clark, is in charge.

- Morning, Richard.
- Morning, Cherry. All right?

So I've got a lot of pasties
that are in need of a swede.

I think you might be able to
help me, looking at this field.

- Yeah, we've got a few.
- Oh, wow.

Look at that. Oh.

- Would you like to try a bite?
- I don't think

I've ever had the pleasure
of eating a raw swede.

First time for everything.
[crunch]

- Oh, it's quite nice.
- Quite sweet really, isn't it?

So what is the difference
between a swede and a turnip?

Turnips are quite white on
the bottom and more purple

around the top, more of a radish
really, a bit more bitter.

[CHERRY HEALEY] Whereas swedes
are orange and sweet.

But they're not the easiest of
veg to get out of the ground.

Oh, my God. I feel like
the sword in the stone.

- [laughs]
- Ah.

Uh, I got it.
[laughter]

Yeah, yeah.

[CHERRY HEALEY] Fortunately,
Richard has the help

of a 7 and 1/2 ton harvester

that can pull up 200 a minute.

So there's a long piece of metal
that goes just underneath the

- roots of the swede.
- Yeah.

So a huge spade
goes underneath the roots,

lifts up the swedes.

Pulling it up.
Yeah, exactly.

[CHERRY HEALEY]
Hidden just behind the wheels,

the blade scoops up
the veg and bounces

them over a perforated conveyor,
which shakes off the soil.

[squeaking]

Large stones, leaves and
roots are picked out by hand.

Then the swedes
drop into a trailer,

which is pulled alongside.

[thudding]

- So is that your average swede?
- Yeah.

What's a big swede?
[laughter]

You're not mucking
about are you?

You could make a lot
of pasties with that.

You could, yeah.

[CHERRY HEALEY] Whoppers and
tiddlers alike, Richard's

harvester gathers
a hundred tons of them a day.

They head four miles
down the road

where they are tipped
into a 9,000 liter water bath--

Here they come-- whoa!
Ha-ha!

- [CHERRY HEALEY]
- -which cleans them up.

Aw, the swedes
are having a swim.

Yeah, this is the
first wash that they get.

[CHERRY HEALEY] They climb up
and into a rotating drum,

which tumbles them
at 20 revolutions a minute.

Bit like a very
elaborate car wash.

- Yeah, pretty much.
- --for a swede.

[RICHARD CLARK] Yeah.

[CHERRY HEALEY]
Now free of soil,

the swedes are sorted by size.

Only the small and
medium ones fit

through our factory's
machines,

so the big ones
are separated out.

They'll head off to supermarkets
and other factories instead.

Oh, look at these.
Now they're all washed,

- they look beautiful!
- [RICHARD CLARK] Yeah.

[CHERRY HEALEY]It does have
a bit of a hairdo problem.

Yeah, we'll take
that off next door.

[music playing]

[CHERRY HEALEY] A team of 15
people use machetes to give 375

swedes a short back
and sides every minute.

So it's quick and forceful.

[RICHARD CLARK] Yeah,
you got to be confident.

Ah.
Really hard.

Oh.
Is that not enough?

No, a little bit more.

[laughs] It's like I'm
carving a Sunday roast.

I don't think I
was cut out for this.

[music playing]

[CHERRY HEALEY]
Now topped and tailed,

the clean-cut veg are
presentable enough

to become pasty filling.

[GREGG WALLACE] 68 miles down
the road in misty Cornwall,

it's taken 30 minutes to offload
today's 2100 kilo delivery.

[beeping]

Once safely inside,
prep operator

Paul Hutchins checks them over.

- Hello, Gregg.
- Hello, my friend.

Ah, a big pile of swedes,
what happens to them now?

They are put into the
swede tipper behind you.

And what do we
do, just tip it up?

Yeah.
Carefully tip it up.

Obviously, you don't want a--

300 kilos of swede
going over at once.

[GREGG WALLACE]
My reputation for clumsiness

clearly precedes me.

Whoa, bit nervous.

[GREGG WALLACE] But I reckon
I can't go wrong

pressing a button.

[whirring]

The tipper uses an eight ton
hydraulic ram to lift the veg.

- I can hear them.
- [PAUL HUTCHINS] Yeah.

Whoa, whoa.

[GREGG WALLACE] But
I've been a bit heavy handed.

- Whoa!
- Yeah, you've got to--

That's a swede avalanche!

[GREGG WALLACE]
I've overloaded the chute.

[GREGG WALLACE] [laughs]
Did I tip it up too high?

[laughs] I missed the
half of it, didn't I?

[laughs] yes, you
did a little bit.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE]
We're quickly back on track,

and our swedes take
a short, 20 meter trip

to the vegetable prep area.

Here, they fall into a
water tank for another wash.

This is the reason why we don't
let so many down the bout in one

go, as you can see in there.

[GREGG WALLACE] That's
all right. That's not full up.

[PAUL HUTCHINS] No, they
should all be under water.

[laughter]
[GREGG WALLACE] Sorry.

[RICHARD CLARK]
That's all right.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE] Luckily,
my swede sabotage

hasn't completely
messed things up.

With the push of a button,
they're raised out of the water

by an Archimedes
screw and are dropped

into a rotating drum which
strips them of their skin.

You can actually hear the swedes

hitting the side of the drum.

That's the high
speed it's spinning at.

You know what it's like?
Being under a tin roof

- in a thunderstorm.
- Yes.

[GREGG WALLACE] It's spinning
at 230 revolutions per minute.

I've got a spare one here.

It's got a very rough bracing
material we use there.

Almost like
an heavy duty sandpaper.

Yes, it is.
That spins very fast,

pushing the swede
against the side,

which is what
causes them to peel.

[GREGG WALLACE] Wow.
That is seriously abrasive.

[PAUL HUTCHINS] It is, yeah.

[GREGG WALLACE]
This mean machine

deskins 30 kilograms of
swedes in just 50 seconds.

Whoa!

[laughs] Peeled them
beautifully, didn't they?

They do.

[GREGG WALLACE] The newly nude
veg are lifted out of the water

by another Archimedes screw.

- Now what happens?
- They are cut into flakes.

You don't dice them up?

We flake them because
they cook quicker.

[whirring]

[GREGG WALLACE] Each swede
is pushed through a blade

which slices it
into 3-millimeter-thick strips.

It's raining swedes.

[GREGG WALLACE] Then each slice
is cut into two centimeter

squares called flakes.

[GREGG WALLACE] [laughs]

[GREGG WALLACE]
We weigh out 45 kilos of them

for one batch of pasties.

Do you know how
many pasties that would make?

Yeah, roughly 3,600.

Big numbers for a
little swede, right?

Very big numbers, yes.

[GREGG WALLACE] We got swedes.
[groans]

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE] 40 minutes
after my swedes arrived,

they're prepped and ready
for pasty making.

One veg down, two to go.

Next up is the humble spud.

A batch of 224 kilograms
is deskinned and flaked,

just like our swedes.

The third and final veg is
onion, which is prepped last--

I'll help.

- [GREGG WALLACE]
- -because it can quickly

lose moisture and dry out.

And how many
onions do we need for our batch?

- 50 kilos.
- 50 kilos.

Why don't you cry when
they're chopping the onions?

You will eventually.

Well, that's how three
veg prepped and ready

for our Cornish pasties.

But when did the
Cornish pasty become,

well, the Cornish pasty?

[GREGG WALLACE] Ruth's
going underground to find out.

[RUTH GOODMAN] Cornwall isn't
just famous for its pasties.

For around 4,000 years, it
was the center of tin mining.

[seagull calling]

It's been claimed that the man
who toiled at the rock face

invented pasties as
a convenient snack,

and that they even helped
influence their classic shape.

But how much of
what we think we know about

Cornish pasties is really true?

[music playing]

[RUTH GOODMAN] I've arranged an
underground rendezvous

in this abandoned mine with food
historian Glyn Hughes--

- Glyn?
- Ruth.

Hey!
Found you.

[RUTH GOODMAN] --to
help me unpack the connection

between miners and pasties.

Digging this rock out is
really, really hard work.

You need to get energy inside
you,and what could be better

- than a pasty?
- Yeah, makes sense.

We've got a photograph here

in my miners bag.
This is from the 1890s.

Yeah, I mean, that's
really, clearly a pasty.

It's a meal all
in one, isn't it?

It's simple. It's easy
to carry, and it's cheap.

These fellows were
not well paid.

They were very often
working on a system

where they only got paid if they
could actually get tin ore out.

So you'd want something you
can eat quick because it's

- eating into your earning time.
- Absolutely.

It is the ultimate
convenience food.

[music playing]

[RUTH GOODMAN] It's clear
that miners were packing

pasties in their lunches.

But what about the idea
that they had a very

particular way of eating them?

I've heard, traditionally,
the crimp around the edge--

that sort of crust bit--
was used just as a handle

and wasn't for eating.

[GLYN HUGHES] Well, have
a look, freshly made.

The reason for that story--

I think-- is that this
isn't just tin ore.

There's also arsenic here,
and that's not a very good

- thing to get on your hands.
- Right.

So if you just hold it by the
crust, and then you throw the

crust away, you don't eat the
arsenic. But I'm not gonna

- go along with this.
- You're not convinced.

Actually, I couldn't even
hold the weight of the pasty

just by the crust.

In any case,
we've seen it from the 1890s,

and they've got
them in little bags.

- It's a lovely little cloth bag!
- Yeah, absolutely.

[RUTH GOODMAN] So is there any
actual historical evidence

of 19th century miners
using it as a handle?

Well, we've been back
through literally thousands

and thousands of
newspapers and magazines

going back to the 18th century,
and we can find absolutely

no mention of it anywhere.

[RUTH GOODMAN] So it seems the
traditional story of how miners

ate these pasties is false.

Far from being a handle,
the crimps simply sealed

the fillings into the pastry.

Should we go get
some fresh air?

Some fresh air, yeah.

[music playing]

And these miners can't lay claim
to inventing the pasty either.

[sighs] Daylight.

People have been folding pastry

over fillings for
2000 years, and it's

thought that the first
use of the word pasty

came way back in
the 13th century.

This is what a traditional
medieval pasty would look like.

It's one single piece of meat,
in this case, some venison,

some wine with spices,
with butter, nutmeg on top,

with very fancy piece
of pastry around it.

This is not your everyday
snack down a tin mine, is it?

[laughs] So who
exactly would have been

- eating something like this?
- The fella in the big house.

- [RUTH GOODMAN] Right.
- The King, uh, the Queen.

[RUTH GOODMAN] Oh, now that
looks good, doesn't it?

Very reminiscent of
the beef Wellington.

Well, it is.

[RUTH GOODMAN] So how then, do
we go from this sort of pasty

to what we know today
as a Cornish pasty?

As always, with ordinary,
everyday people's foods,

the problem is, it
doesn't get written down.

It's only the posh people's
stuff that gets written down.

[music playing]

Over the centuries,
the vegetable

contents slowly increased,

and Cornwall became particularly
associated with these pastry-

wrapped treats.

[GLYN HUGHES] The earliest
reference we can definitely

find to a Cornish
pasty is, strangely

enough, in the "Leeds Times."

This is 1861, and this says,
"The standing dish of Cornwall

is the Cornish pasty.

Small pieces of beef,
highly peppered,

enclosed in a wrapper of paste."

So it's starting to become
a regional specialism.

But it's not exactly
the same, is it?

There's no vegetables there.

The first reference
we can find to

a Cornish pasty as it's made now
is as recent as 1929.

It's in "Cornish Recipes--
Ancient and Modern."

And a lovely little poem, "A
Cornish pasty-- a pastry rolled

out like a plate, piled with
[inaudible], tates and mate,

doubled up and baked like fate.

That's a Cornish pasty."

It's there, isn't it?
I mean, the main ingredients--

[inaudible] that's like
turnips and swedes.

- Yep.
- Tates-- potatoes-- and mate--

- accent on meat, isn't it?
- --perhaps, yeah.

So why do you think it,

sort of, finally settled on
these simple ingredients?

Because they're cheap,
and because they're

- produced locally.
- And very delicious.

Very delicious, indeed.

[music playing]

[RUTH GOODMAN] There may be
gaps in the local history of

these famous pastry parcels.

But one thing's for
sure, those miners knew

they were on to a good thing.

[GREGG WALLACE]
Back at the factory,

we're continuing that proud
pasty-making tradition.

- All the veg are prepped.
- Oh, well played. Here we go.

And I'm with Richard

to beef up my fillings.

The factory gets through 70,000
kilograms of British beef

every week.

Whoa.
That's it, a drum of beef.

Can I ask what cut that is?

That's flank from this
section of the animal,

sits over the top
of the rib cage.

There's a nice big size muscle
of it, so there's plenty of it.

[GREGG WALLACE]
It's 30% fat to 70% meat.

That fat will help to keep
our pasty filling moist.

So now you cut it into
chunks, I'm guessing.

- No, we're gonna mince this.
- Mince it?

You don't have mince
in a Cornish pasty.

You can have mince
in a Cornish pasty.

And we mince it so we get
a nice, even amount of beef

throughout the
whole of the pasty.

[GREGG] What are you saying?
If it was chunks, I might

take a bite of a Cornish pasty
that might not have meat in it.

'Cause it might
all be at one end.

That's right, yeah.
What percentage of the

- Cornish pasty is the meat?
- So 15% beef in every pasty.

And it's going to need
138 kilos from the mincer

to go into our batch to
be able to get the 3,600.

Why do you smile when
you say the weight of beef?

Because I just didn't
want to forget the number.

Were you sweating
up before I got here?

I've made sure I'm aware of
the number that we're using.

[music playing]

[whirring]

[GREGG WALLACE] This
lot is about to become mince.

Inside this mincer, there
is a screw that forces

it through the mincing plates.

Like an old fashioned,
like, sausage machine.

Yeah, we just got
a big version of it.

Whoa, look at that.

[GREGG WALLACE] The
screw hacks through the pieces,

then forces them through
three plates with increasingly

smaller holes.

The meat emerges as uniform,
5 millimeter thick ribbons

of mince--

Whoa, that's in serious
amounts, isn't it?

[GREGG WALLACE] --at
a rate of 1.5 tons an hour.

- Our spare plates are just here.
- Yeah, come on. Show me.

So this is the first plate.

The red meat comes
through this section.

That blade rotates,
which cuts the meat.

Then it comes through the next
plate, which sits over the top.

And the red, soft
meat that we're

looking for in our pasties
comes through this final plate.

[GREGG WALLACE]
And there's an ingenious way

to remove any gristle.

[squishing]

What's the, like, sausage that's
coming out of the side there?

Well, this tube here is what
we call the degristling tube.

Degristling tube.

We're working on
the basic density.

The tougher, chewier
part of it is more dense,

so any gristle that might be in
there gets exited out the left,

and we don't get any gristle
or chewy bits in the mince.

The gristle is too big to
go through the little holes.

- Yep.
- And then,

do you sell that to go
into other people's pasties?

[chuckles] No that
goes to food waste.

[music playing]

Over an hour into the process,

our mince is covered
to keep it fresh.

But it still needs seasoning.

So I follow my nose to the
aptly named spice room.

- You can smell it.
- You can.

An overriding smell of pepper.

[GREGG WALLACE] The dry powder
ingredients for our Cornish

pasties are blended here.

So if you can grab the pepper.

- Yes.
- Yes.

[GREGG WALLACE]
They mix in a monster 180

liter blender.

Already inside, is salt and
vegetable stock for flavor,

and starch to thicken it all up.

I just get some coriander
and some white pepper,

- and add some mustard.
- [GREGG WALLACE] Right-o.

That is a fair
amount of mustard.

That's a hot old mix, mate.

[GREGG WALLACE] But that's
not the only kick in here.

Where do these black
peppercorns come from?

Because they are powerful.

The peppers come
in from Indonesia,

and it's a specific
pepper type that we use.

- Is it a secret?
- Yeah.

- Is it?
- No.

[laughter]

I'm going to take Richard with
a pinch of salt from now on.

And I'm keen as mustard
to get my seasoning mixed.

[RICHARD BAIN] Tip it all in.

[GREGG WALLACE]
Combining the powders like this

ensures that every pasty gets
a consistent blend of spices.

[whirring]

A 6 minute spin
is all they need.

So now we're coming to our
weighing-up booth.

We are gonna get all that
up our nose, aren't we?

Well, you step
forward into there

and see whether you can
tell the difference.

You've got some serious
extraction here, haven't you?

This is a down-flow booth.
It's bringing the air down

gradually and out through
the filters in the bottom.

Out here, you've got the
slight irritant of a pepper.

- Yep.
- And in here, you got nothing.

So this is all designed to
make sure that it's literally

not going up our nose.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE]
I measure out four bags,

each containing 4 kilos

of my powerful spice blend.

And we head to the mixing
room, where all our fillings

are finally coming together.

- Give these to you.
- Thank you very much.

- Splendid.
- Perfect.

So these are all of our
ingredients for our pasty mix.

- We got our beef.
- Yep.

Some diced onions.
That's the swede.

Are those two at
the back potatoes?

They are.
That's the potato at the back.

That's a nice mix, mate.
That's a nice mix.

[GREGG WALLACE]
But it's not an even mix.

The vegetables are
very different sizes.

[RICHARD BAIN] For a
proper Cornish pasty,

it's got to be baked
from raw ingredients.

I didn't know that.

The vegetables are all
prepared to a flake and a size

to make sure they all cook
evenly at the same time.

So if I get you a piece of
swede and a piece of potato,

you can see that the
potato is slightly

- thicker than the swede.
- OK ?

That's because the swede
is denser than the potato

- and will take longer to cook.
- You got it.

And if they were the same size,

they would cook at
different times.

- Exactly right.
- So you cut them exactly right

so they all cook
at the same time.

- That's it.
- Let's do it. Let's do it.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE] Our swede goes
into the paddle mixer first,

followed by potatoes,

and finally--
Onions.

Now, we're going to mix
all the vegetables to get

that nice and even through.

[GREGG WALLACE]
After a couple of minutes,

we add the spices.

Nice.
The starch starts

to bind all the veg together.

We don't want to
put the beef in until the end

because the beef is
a bit more delicate.

It's already mixed.
Why would it matter?

Well you'd lose the texture.

We don't want it to
turn into a gravy,

- so we're as gentle as we can.
- [GREGG WALLACE] Right, OK.

[GREGG WALLACE]
After 2 minutes--

Whoa.

- [GREGG WALLACE]
- -we add our minced beef.

Right at the minute, you've
got yellow with pink patches.

It's like somebody's
worst nightmare cardigan.

[GREGG WALLACE]
Another 120

seconds and we have evenly
mixed meat, veg and seasoning.

That's great.

You can smell the
spice coming off it.

You can.

In cloudy Cornwall,

we are 1 hour and 28 minutes
into making our pasties,

but there is one very
important component missing,

so I'm heading to the
pastry production area.

Helping me to wrap this
one up is David Iron.

- Morning.
- You're David?

- I'm David.
- What pastry is it?

- So we're making puff pastry.
- Puff pastry?

- Puff pastry.
- Not shortcrust pastry?

Traditionally, in
the home kitchen,

you might have produced
a short pastry,

but because we need
to have a product that

is both good cold
and hot, we make

our pasties with puff pastry.

The problem with, a short crust
is, what, it's no good cold?

It tends to be a lot harder
to eat, and you'd have

a lap full of crumbs. And that's
not what anybody wants.

- You show me how you make it.
- So we've got two

sets of margarine
that are going to go in.

This one is softer and creamier,
which is going in for flavor.

How many of these do we need?

We're going to put
4 and 1/2 in this bowl.

- 4 and 1/2.
- [music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE]
This first batch of marg

has a relatively
low melting point--

- Like that.
- --which will create

a creamy texture in our pastry.

[GREGG WALLACE] They look
like enormous sugar cubes.

[DAVID IRON] Bit
heavier than sugar.

Oop.
[giggles]

[thud]
[thud]

And we've got another margarine,
which is going in

to get our lift because it gives
better strength to the dough.

This green-wrapped marg

has a higher
melting point, which

will strengthen our pastry
and help hold it together.

What is in the margarine?

Just like the margarine
you'd buy in a shop.

It's made of oil and
water emulsified together.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE]
88 liters of water drops

into the super-sized bowl--

Oh, here it comes.

[GREGG WALLACE] --along
with 224 kilograms of flour--

- Press the white button.
- What, the button that says

- discharge flour?
- That's the one.

[GREGG WALLACE] --enough
for a batch of 4,000 pasties.

The difference
between this and the way

I would do it at home is, here,
I haven't got a glass of wine,

- and I'm not listening to ABBA.
- Would you really want ABBA?

- Yeah.
- What's the perfect

- pastry-baking music?
- Oh, jazz.

- Jazz?
- Yeah, contemporary jazz.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE] Nice.

Ingredients collected,
next we swing by the mixer.

- How long's it gonna mix for?
- About 2 and 1/2 minutes.

[GREGG WALLACE]
As the ingredients combine,

the water and flour
mix, forming gluten.

[GREGG WALLACE] Whoa, mate.

That is seriously
stretchy, innit?

The elasticity on it
is quite incredible.

- Yeah.
- Look at that.

[GREGG WALLACE] It's gluten
that makes this dough elastic.

It needs to be tough so that
we've got enough strength in

there to expand to give us
a puff pastry.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE] Our giant ball
of stretchy dough is lifted up

and tipped into a hopper

before a series of five
rollers force it through an 18

millimeter thick slit.

[DAVID IRON] So the
dough is extruded,

and then we cut it in half, and
then we put one over the other.

Oh, yeah.

One's going up, and
one's going down.

[GREGG WALLACE]
This all happens because we're

adding more margarine.

[DAVID IRON] The
margarine is extruded

between the two pieces of
dough, as we can see under here.

[GREGG WALLACE] Ah.

Right.
OK, that's brilliant.

All right, so the
dough is being split.

One's going up.
One's going down.

And then, more margarine comes
in the middle like a sandwich.

Correct.
That's right.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE] This
process is called lamination.

When the pastry is baked, the
water in the dough of one layer

boils, becoming steam.

As the steam
expands, it pushes up

the layer of margarine
and dough above it,

creating a pocket of air.

How many of these
layers are you gonna have.

[DAVID IRON] There'll be
80 layers when we finish.

- 80 of them?
- 80 layers.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE]
To create the 80 layers,

our dough fat sandwich is
rolled to a thickness of 12

millimeters before being
folded over on itself,

giving us four layers
of margarine sandwiched

between 5 layers of dough.

It's then rolled flat again,

and the process is repeated
to produce 16 layers of fat.

Finally, it's cut into
sections and stacked.

So this is where
we get our 80 layers.

Each piece of pastry
here has got 16 layers,

and they're five deep,
giving us our 80 layers.

Is 5 times 16 80?

It was when I was at school.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE] Maths
lesson over, the stacked layers

are rolled back down to create
one continuous sheet of dough

with microscopic layers
of fat inside it.

And that is 80 layers, right?

80 layers, you're
absolutely right.

80 layers squashed down
into one bit of pastry.

[GREGG WALLACE]
All this folding and rolling

takes just seven minutes.

So here we are. This is the end
of the pastry-making process.

We've got our 12
millimeter sheet.

It's coming along here.

We're then going to cut it
into 1 and 1/2 meter lengths,

roll it up, and place
it on the racks,

ready to go to the
production of the pasties.

The pastry is carefully
rolled to protect and store it.

That looks
relatively easy to me.

- Stand back.
- Come back.

- Stand back.
- Round the back here.

[music playing]

- Whoa.
- Whoa.

Um, I've dropped this one.

I'll take that one away then.

[GREGG WALLACE] David might
regret allowing me to try this.

[DAVID IRON] Have another go.

Oh.

[DAVID IRON] That one-- at
least it didn't hit the floor.

[GREGG WALLACE] [laughs]

It's like wrestling
a crocodile.

Well, yay.

- [cheering]
- [DAVID IRON] Well taken.

- Yay.
- [DAVID IRON] You've got it.

I think he's got it.

[GREGG WALLACE]
Each of these pastry rolls

weighs 14 kilograms.

That might not sound heavy,
but I'm cream crackered.

That's hard work.

- Have you got a pasty?
- I've got plenty.

[GREGG WALLACE] Like
me, the pastry needs to rest.

In 45 minutes time,
the gluten inside it

will be more relaxed
and easier to work.

[music playing]

In the pasty factory, 2 and 1/2
hours after our swedes arrived,

the veg has been chopped,
the filling seasoned,

and our relaxed pastry
is ready to roll.

I'm delivering this batch
to the production line

where I'm meeting Emma Sanders.

- You must be Emma.
- I am.

What are we doing here?

We're joining
the pastry by hand.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE] The
hungry pasty-making machines

our pastry will be
traveling into require

one continuous
ribbon so the rolls

must be seamlessly joined.

Emma has to keep up
with the conveyor, which

travels at 20 meters
a minute, or the line

will grind to a halt.

Score it. Start from away from
you, and just push and push.

- Shall I have a go, next one.
- Yeah. [inaudible] for a laugh.

Let's see if I can perform
better here than I did earlier.

[yells]

Oh, you just
nearly lost that one.

Oh, now what do I do?

- Oh.
- Fold the pastry.

- [laughter]
- It's stuck.

- Now you've ruined--
- It's sticking it.

It's sticking.

You're really
gonna cause a jammer.

- Emma!
- [laughs] Right.

Right.
How do I get it out there?

You push it up.
[laughs]

[GREGG WALLACE] Where
did he come from?

[EMMA SANDERS] He just
pops up now and again.

[music playing]

[EMMA SANDERS] Use the
step when you're going up.

Start from the other end.

Oh, that's why
you need the step.

Yeah, because
you're short like me.

- No, you--
- That looks good to me.

- It's-- He's back again.
- [interposing voices]

You know you're doing
it wrong if he comes up.

[EMMA SANDERS] You're
gonna cause a jammer.

Every time.
Every time. Get out.

[GREGG WALLACE]
The seam needs to be perfect.

Otherwise, pasties made from
the join could fall apart.

I wouldn't quit your day job.

[alarm sounding]

Oh, this is why it's
running slow, is it?

Mate, this is really hard.
Is it running slow?

Emma, you've got a trainee.
How's he doing?

- Uh, not very good.
- All credit.

- Thank you.
- I can't do that.

[laughter]

That is, physically,
really tough.

It is.

Surely you can get
a machine to do this.

Well, we've tried a number
of different machines to do it,

but we just can't get it
to join and keep the pastry

even all the way through.

Otherwise, we'd get dead pastry,
and the pasty would be no good.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE]
We need 40 rolls to make

our batch of 3,600 pasties.

So we've joined the pastries
together-- well, Emma did--

and now what we're
doing is rolling it

to the right thickness, so
we're taking it down in stages,

ready to put it into a pasty.

And is that through a series
of different rollers?

A bit like a pasta machine
at home.

You don't automatically
make it thin because it will

- stretch it. Is that--
- Exactly right, yeah.

We want to take
it down gradually.

It is squashed through three

rollers which
reduce its thickness

from 12 millimeters to three.

- It's like a pizza cutter.
- Yeah, that's right.

We're cutting it into four
strips for the four lines

- of pasties that we're making.
- Brilliant.

And then we've got
a little bit of water

that we're spraying on
for joining the pastry.

- Yeah. Makes it stick, right?
- Exactly right.

- Same as at home.
- Exactly.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE]
Now, this pastry

is ready for the raw
filling we prepared earlier.

That is a lot
of pasty filling.

[GREGG WALLACE]
We'll need four of these bins.

[GREGG WALLACE] [SINGING]
Row, row, row your mince.

[GREGG WALLACE] The
filling is pressed out in 140

gram shapes, four at a time.

- They're semicircles.
- Yep.

That surprised me, but then,
I suppose that's the shape

- of a pasty, isn't it?
- That's right.

How long will
it take before that's finished

our batch of 3,600?

- Half an hour.
- 30 minutes.

Yeah.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE] Each line of
pastry runs under stainless

steel bars, which gently
fold it over the filling.

- Oh, I love that.
- Yeah?

Yeah. Is there a technical
name for that?

They're our folding bars.

[laughs]

[GREGG WALLACE] Each dollop of
filling is spaced exactly 150

millimeters from its neighbor

and sits perfectly in
the crease of the pastry.

It almost looks like it's gonna
move the meat filling off.

That means that we've got it
right to the edge of the pastry

dough, so we've got
fill to every edge.

So you're not gonna get
a bite of hot air, right?

- Exactly right.
- Most of that comes from me.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE]
And I'm getting a second wind.

There's one more process before
I finally see a Cornish pasty.

A set of metal teeth press
down onto our pastry parcels.

The blue rubber sheet stops
them sticking to the metal mold.

There we go.
That's it.

It's the first time I've seen
anything pasty shaped in here.

So here's our crimper.

This comes down
onto the pasties.

Exactly. We've got
the inner section, which

crimps the pasty together.

This is what gives
it the decoration.

And then the outer edge is the
bit that cuts it right through.

Brilliant.

[music playing]

Two hours and 41 minutes

after unloading the
swedes, our pasties

are looking a little
pasty, so they're glazed.

Nice and shiny.
What is that, an egg wash?

It's an egg wash, yeah.
It's 70% whole egg, 30% milk.

- Are they ready for baking?
- Into the oven next.

[oven roaring]

[GREGG WALLACE] Mate, this
is a ludicrously long oven.

- How long is it?
- 60 meters.

And how long does it
take to go 60 meters?

27 minutes.

Right.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE] As the pasties
travel through the oven

at around 230 degrees Celsius--

- p-:Can I see in here?
- Yep.

[GREGG WALLACE] --their pastry
begins to puff up.

OK, the pasties are
just starting

to color now and bake through.

[GREGG WALLACE] They're just
about getting a bit of a suntan.

I can smell them.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE]
Finally, the golden shell

- of a Cornish pasty.
- [RICHARD BAIN] There we go.

Ah, that's a--
that's a nice sight.

I do like that.
That is really nice.

Endless strings of pasties.

- But they're hot, right?
- Yeah.

Really hot.

[GREGG WALLACE] Our
pastry may be perfectly cooked,

but the filling still
has a way to go.

The residual heat
from the oven ensures

the veg inside will
carry on softening

for the next five minutes.

Now we've got to
check the quality.

Shall we go to our
tasting station?

- The what station?
- The tasting station.

- Really?
- Have I caught your attention?

- Come on.
- Come on.

[music playing]

- Look at that, steaming.
- There we go.

Absolutely steaming.

Got a little bit
of give in them.

But they're gonna
carry on cooking, right?

They're gonna
carry on cooking.

Now, I don't mind them
having a little bit of texture.

[GREGG WALLACE] I can think of
one improvement though.

You ain't got a pint of
beer down there, have you?

[RICHARD BAIN] Not
just at the minute.

[GREGG WALLACE] The pasties
continue their journey by taking

a sharp left-hand turn.

They're gonna fall off the edge.
Are they?

- No, no.
- Haha ha!

- You like that?
- Do you know what?

I've never seen one
of these before.

[GREGG WALLACE]
The rub a bell extends, then

retracts by 80 centimeters, the
slack taken up by four rollers

underneath.

Now in neat diagonal
rows of four,

our pasties glide
effortlessly onwards.

So this is just
so we can line it up

- to send it off to the cooler.
- [GREGG WALLACE] Brilliant.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE]
Over three hours in,

my pasties have been
baked and are in a spin.

They're traveling through a
seven meter tall, -24 degrees

Celsius, cooling
corkscrew, which

takes their
temperature from around

95 degrees down to below five.

After 90 minutes,
they reach the bottom

fully cooled before heading
into the packing hall,

where Kim Campbell--

- Good to meet you.
- -runs the factory's

state-of-the-art packers.

This bit looks much more
high tech than the other bit.

Yeah, it's an automation
line, and there's three scanners

which scan the pasties,
and they map out where

the pasties are on the belt.

[GREGG WALLACE] As each pasty
processes under this red line,

a computer checks
it's the right shape and size.

And then the grippers--
as you go along here--

the grippers will then pick
the pasties and place them

into the card to protect them.

[buzzing]

[GREGG WALLACE] They're like
a load of robotic Angry Birds

picking at the pasties.

- I almost feel sorry for them.
- [laughs]

It looks like
they're being attacked.

[GREGG WALLACE] The
six robot arms use information

from the scanners
to rotate each pasty

to match up exactly
with their individual

protective cardboard sleeves.

They grab our batch of
3,600 in just 30 minutes,

using four delicately
controlled pneumatic fingers.

Does it ever miss any? Do you
ever get any left at the end?

Only if it's the wrong size,

or it's not the right shape
or the right color.

What happens if I get a hold
of one and break it in half

and put it through?
Will it go through?

No, I won't go through.

[GREGG WALLACE]
Challenge accepted.

Right, let's see
if it gets grabbed.

- You feeling confident?
- I'm feeling very confident.

There it is. That should
come out right at the end.

Pick it up.
Come on.

Go on, get it.
Go on, get it!

Get it.

[laughs] It's not
grabbing it, is it?

KIM CAMPBELL: There you go.

What about our good pasties?
What happens to them?

Well they go for
a flow wrapper now.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE] Each pasty is
covered and sealed in plastic,

and a use-by date is
stamped on the packaging.

Now, what is the shelf life
of that once it's sealed?

It's about 10 days.

[music playing]

[GREGG WALLACE]
Wrapped and ready to go,

our pasties are boxed by hand.

The packers double check
every pasty is whole.

Robots vacuum lift
stacks of boxes

onto pallets, 18 at a time.

After four hours and 49 minutes,
our finished Cornish pasties

travel to the 2,700
square meter dispatch area

where warehouse manager
Peter Wilford is waiting for me.

- Hi, Gregg.
- Peter.

- Nice to meet you.
- Is that a double-decker lorry?

Yes, it is.

40 pallets on there,
67,200 pasties,

or 20 ton, if you like that.

How many of those trucks
leave here every day?

15 of those trucks leave here
every day, roughly every hour

and a half, seven
days a week, 24/7.

[GREGG WALLACE] That's
an incredible amount.

I never knew we ate
that many pasties.

I know.
You can tell.

[laughs]

[GREGG WALLACE] They ship
180,000 pasties

out each day,

sending them all
over the UK and Ireland.

Londoners eat the most, but
pasty fans in the Midlands

aren't far behind.

I've enjoyed my visit,

and I've learned some
really interesting stuff.

Here in this bakery,
they mince the beef,

and the pastry they
use is puff pastry,

which really surprised me.

And also what I learned is to
be an authentic Cornish pasty,

the filling has to go
into the pastry uncooked,

and of course, it has to be
made right here in Cornwall.

[music playing]