THE aptly named Graham Cornish of Liskeard said he was 'floating on a pasty-shaped cloud' after winning two of the top prizes at the first World Pasty Championships, held at the Eden Project.

Graham was victorious in both the Cornish Pasty Professional category, using a traditional recipe of skirt beef and vegetables, and the Open Savoury Professional section, with a smoked fish, saffron and parsley filled pasty.

'I'm humbled to win this award,' said Graham, 'and this event raises the profile of the Cornish Pasty. It's good for local sourcing and local farming and it's brilliant to see people eating more pasties.'

Graham, who is head of development at Ginsters, Callington, has been making pasties since the age of five. He attributes his success to the hours he spent learning the skill alongside his mother.

'My mother was a very talented cook, so I suppose it's in the blood. I can remember her going out to the butcher and asking for a shilling's worth of meat for the boy, so that I could make a pasty.'

The champion pasty maker intends to pass on the family knowledge to his three sons – the eldest of whom are already known as 'big pasty' and 'little pasty' at school.

The event at Eden attracted more than 100 entries from all over the world, and winners were judged on taste, texture, appearance, crimp and technical expertise.

There were some unusual fillings among the winning entries, including squirrel meat in a 'fruits of the forest' pasty, and cornish yarg and wild mushroom.

Commenting on the more adventurous pasties available now, Graham said: 'The idea of what can go in a pasty has changed over the years, along with people's palates – but you still can't beat a traditional pasty in my opinion.'