Food
New Local Food Truck: Cornish Treat in a Handheld Pie
Another unique food truck is entering the Fresno/Clovis market.
Jeremy Dyer normally prints t-shirts. Now, he and his partners are starting Union Jacks Pasty Shack. And that’s pasty pronounced the British way, “PAST-ee.”
“It’s a Cornish pasty dish dating back to England in the 1200s. And we wanted to bring something unique and different to Fresno, to the Valley,” Dyer said.
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This is his first foray into the food business.
“We wanted something else to do, another revenue stream. So we jumped into this,” Dyer said.
Dyer is partnering with Craig Lopez and Ben Cunliffe on the food truck venture.
Cunliffe is a UK native and his father is David Cunliffe, a retired Michelin-rated chef. The elder Cunliffe helped influence the recipes for the relatively simple pasty, a crimped crust shell filled with meat or vegetables.
The truck will make its formal debut on May 22 at Enzo’s Table at the corner of Willow and Shepherd avenues in Clovis — a popular spot for food trucks.
Five Variety of Pies
“It’s a Cornish pasty dish dating back to England in the 1200s. And we wanted to bring something unique and different to Fresno, to the Valley.” — Jeremy Dyer
The handheld pies are inspired by meals consumed by miners in Cornwall, England. Because of arsenic on their hands, the pies were crimped, to serve as a handle. The pasty is becoming increasingly popular. In fact, Michigan residents consider it the state’s signature dish.
“(It is) essentially a Hot Pocket or a chicken pot pie in your hand,” Dyer said.
Union Jack Pasty Shack is offering five varieties of pies — steak and blue, which Dyer expects to be the most popular; three cheese and onion; ham and cheese; tandoori chicken; and chicken and chorizo.
Pies sell for $7.95 each. The truck also offers sausage rolls — like a pig in a blanket — for $4.95. Two flavors of drinks, watermelon and passion fruit, go for $3.95 each.
A Special Guest
At a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday in the parking lot of sister company Big Bear Apparel in Clovis, Dyer’s father came to wish his son good luck. That would be Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer.
“It’s my honor to be here to support him,” Mayor Dyer said.
Dozens of guests and well-wishers attended the ribbon cutting. The reviews were positive.
“It’s really good. Nice and flaky crust, delicious,” Sharon Isackson of Clovis said.
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and granddaughter Charlotte at the ribbon-cutting in Clovis of the Union Jacks Pasty Shack food truck on Wednesday, May 13, 2021. (GV Wire/David Taub)
