The Green Tank

Culture · open evidence challenge

Pasty
Quest.

Who rolled the first pasty—and why?

Bring the object, not just the legend.

We have followed land obligations, herring deliveries, old writing, city accounts, recipes and travelling manuscripts. The first pasty is still missing.

An older find could change the benchmark. An early mention, a recipe and proof of invention are different kinds of evidence, so each clue keeps its proper label.

Open the presentation

The Source of Pasty Truth Challenge

Turn the pages.
Follow the trail.

The reader streams the 3 MB PDF from Internet Archive. The 130 MB PowerPoint remains there for anyone who wants the full source file.

Open the full-page viewer ↗See the Archive record ↗
Read online or download · 3 MBPresentation PDFComplete deck and notes · 130 MBOriginal PowerPointDetailed evidence trail · 2.3 MBResearch report PDFEditable report · 13.6 MBResearch report DOCX

The full presentation and companion report are stored at Internet Archive. Downloads are optional; the site itself carries only the page and viewer.

Some leads in the current record

A date is a clue.
It is not an inventor.

c.1170

A literary clue

An early reference to pastez in Érec et Énide shows recognised food in a story. It does not establish the first maker or a modern recipe.

1212

A hard English record

A Carleton land-tenure return describes carrying first-herring pasties to the king. This is a service obligation, not an origin certificate.

1509/10

A Devon account

Plymouth records connect flour, venison, pepper, cooks and baking to pasties. A strong local production record, though later than the Norfolk one.

1746

A Cornish recipe

A Launceston letter gives a mutton-pasty receipt. It documents a regional recipe without settling the earlier origin question.

The presentation and research report give the fuller audit trail and source references. This investigation remains open to correction.

Can you find more proof?

What have we
missed?

An older charter, account book, recipe, poem, picture or manuscript might move the search forward. Tell us where the object is, how it is dated and what it actually says. Family tradition is welcome as a lead to investigate.

Begin in plain text. Please do not send attachments on first contact; a person reviews submissions before any material enters research.

Email a Pasty Quest clue Read the submission guidance ↗