Pastries weren't always intended to be delicious treats. In the 16th century, the dough that's now used to make pastries had a much more practical role than it does today.

Chefs shaped dough into inch-thick boxes and used them as disposable cooking containers for meat fillings and other savory foods. Once used, the charred pastry box was thrown away.

The word "pastry" actually didn't appear until the mid-15th century. Before that, it was known by a more peculiar name, according to 14th-century English cookbooks: coffyn (or coffin).

To make a coffyn, cooks would mix flour and water to form a dough. After kneading and shaping it into a several-inch thick square-shaped box, a savory filling would go inside.

Once baked, the coffyn would be tough and burnt, but the filling would be moist and fully cooked. They inspired an Elizabethan saying: "If it's good, 'tis better in a Coffyn!"