Nurturing my inner... all the way from UK

Yesterday while hanging out, one of my friends mentioned a place she wanted to try.  She said, it's called Pure Pasty, in Vienna, Va.  And it had traditional British pasties.  (Not pastRies.)  I said, "Now wait a minute.  I went there last September."  I thought for sure I had blogged about it.  But I couldn't find my posting.  (I keep a detailed spreadsheet, so I can do easy searches.  Right, NERD.)  Try as I might, I can't figure out how I missed writing this one out for you.  Oh well, better late than never.

The shop took a little effort to find.  There are these service roads in Vienna that hide clusters of quaint little storefronts in every nook.

It's kind of in a side alley.

You actually step down to enter the shop.  It's tiny, but it's a specialty store.  I like when there is a focus to do a few things really well instead of many things just average.  A large menu doesn't always equate to an amazing experience.

 

Jars and cans of imported goods from the
United Kingdom.

Sidle up to the glass container and see all the lovely trays of fresh out of the oven baked goods.  Okay, so I didn't know what half of them were, but I'm adventurous.  And I studied the menu.  If you're going to try something new, it's best to do some research ahead of time and prepare yourself.

Drinks to the left. I went in the early afternoon
so they were sold out of some types.
A popular place.

So what is a pasty?  It is a meat and veggie stuffed hand pie with a flaky crust.  The crust is traditional and had a historical purpose.  (Which I always share with you to make us all seem smarter around the water cooler at work.)  It was created many years ago as food for miners who had toxic chemicals on their hands.  So they would eat the pie up to the sturdy crust and then safely discard that.  (Right, no way we'd be throwing away that delicious crust today!  Hopefully most of us aren't miners or handling toxins every day while having lunch.  If you do fit that profile, I'm afraid you must forgo the crust for your own safety.)

Warm, golden brown.

I decided to try a more traditional one and then something with a little fusion bent.  The first was Chicken Provencial: Cage-free chicken, leeks, potatoes, cream and herbs de provence.

Reminds me of a chicken pot pie.

Each pie is made with a pastry code or cut out shape on top, so they know what's what when they come out of the oven.  It was good.  Not overly flavorful, but more delicate with herbs and sturdy with the other ingredients.

Secret code, check. I know what's inside you!

The next one I tried was the Cornish Masala: Cage-free chicken, green peppers, onions, Indian spices in a curry sauce.

I love Indian spices. They are so aromatic.

This one had a stronger flavor due to the curry.  I ate half of each instead of just one whole pie.  Because I like variety.  I brought them home though, as seating is very limited at the shop.

Stick to your ribs food.

As a special note, they had a bunch of kinds of British candy by the cash register.  I happen to be particularly fond of the Crunchie, which is chocolate covered honeycomb, and they had it.

It's fun to buy candy with strange names
and odd flavors.

Since I was in Vienna, I made a second stop that day to another place with a flag outside.  *Bonus info for you*  To an old time favorite: Nielsen's Frozen Custard.  It's not British at all.  Very American.

Historic exterior. Like an ice cream parlor
on old Main Street, USA.

They make two flavors of custard: vanilla and chocolate.  But you can add in so many things.  They make sundaes with toppings or concretes where they blend it all up.  The combinations are a plenty and you'll never get bored.

Busy, busy dippers beneath the menu board.

I went with a good old stand by of my own: chocolate custard with marshmallow topping.  Oh gosh.  So densely creamy.  Custard has a soft, luscious consistency.  And as I recall, it was pretty warm that day in September.  I believe I ate half of it before I drove home.


That's my car behind it. I had to get you a shot
before it melted anymore and I dove in.

It was a fun trip for me to scout out a place for a food item I had never heard of, never mind tasted before.  I'm always up for any food adventure.  Now I know what a pasty is!  In case the Queen should ever ask me.  Knowing there also was a great custard place a few doors down just happened to be terrific planning on my part.  (My research doesn't seem so silly now, does it?)  So do your homework.  You'll be glad you did.  (Speaking of, I'd better go back and catch up on mine.  Hope I didn't miss anyting else from that far back!)