In 2011 the term "Cornish pasty" was given protected status by European lawmakers.

BBC: World Pasty Championships start at Eden Project

Reigning champion Billy Deakin retained top spot in the Cornish Pasty Amateur category.

BBC: World Pasty Championships start at Eden Project

And it is a spectacular one, encompassing UNESCO World Heritage sites, pirate coves, dinosaur fossils, surf beaches, seal-basked rocks and enough Cornish pasty parlours to sustain your hiking between them.

BBC: Walking Great Britain��s great coast

One new business which has opened is Proper Cornish Pasty.

BBC: Taunton

It has taken more than eight years for the Cornish pasty to win official recognition protection under the Europen Union's protected food names scheme, or PGI, as it's also known.

CNN: Cornish pasties filling hunger for jobs

Henry Cornish, 14, son of last year's Cornish Pasty and Open Savoury Professional winner Graham Cornish, won the Open Savoury Junior category, while his brother Simon came second in the Cornish Pasty Junior category.

BBC: World Pasty Championships start at Eden Project

Today, there are some 100 pasty businesses in Cornwall together producing around 120 million Cornish pasties a year.

CNN: Cornish pasties filling hunger for jobs

As I tuck into my pasty, I realize the potential for growth beyond the Cornish shores.

CNN: Cornish pasties filling hunger for jobs