World Pasty Championships winners chosen

Image caption, Graham Cornish won two professional categories

More than 100 cooks from around the world have taken part in the first World Pasty Championships in Cornwall.

The event - at the Eden Project, near St Austell, on Saturday - celebrated the popular delicacy, which was given protected status under EU law in 2011.

The aptly-named Graham Cornish, who works at pasty-maker Ginsters, won the two professional classes.

Meanwhile, Billy Deakin, from Mount Hawke, neat St Agnes, won the Cornish Pasty Amateur category.

Entrants came from as far afield as Australia and the US.

The winners were decided by a panel of 21 judges.

The Cornish Pasty Association, which backed the competition, came up with the "genuine" Cornish pasty recipe as part of its successful Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) application.

Marks were awarded for taste, texture, appearance, pastry crimp and technical expertise, organisers said.

Mr Cornish - who won the Cornish Pasty Professional, and Open Savoury Professional categories - said he had been making pasties since he was five.

He said he was "humbled" to win, saying the secret was using the freshest ingredients.

Head judge Dave Menear said he and his panel had found some of the entries "fascinating".

He said: "There were 102 pasties judged and we thought there were only two or three duds out of all of those."

Some classes in the championships also looked at alternative recipes.

Image caption, The judging panel looked at 102 pasties

Mr Menear said: "Some of the stuff we were tasting in the open category were not really a Cornish pasty, but they were amazing. Some real creativity went into it."

One alternative recipe entered was a fish and chip pasty.

However, Suzanne Manson, from Bristol, won the Open Savoury Amateur class.

Her pasty was filled with wild rabbit poached in cider-soaked leeks, with peas and lemon zest.

The pasty has been associated with tin miners in the county and was a part of many people's diets during the 18th Century.

The Oxford English Dictionary suggests it was first identified around 1300.

Families in Cornwall have passed down the recipe for a Cornish pasty through the generations.

Variations on the pasty taken around the world by expatriates can be found from Australia to California and Mexico.