Pasties (Michigan & Northern Minnesota)

Last summer while driving through Michigan to visit Mackinac Island, I saw so many signs for restaurants encouraging travelers to come in and try their famous pasty (correctly pronounced pass-tee). I had no idea what a pasty was and asked those I was traveling with. They were so surprised I had never heard of a pasty, and now that I do know what a pasty is I’m starting to question whether I’m a true Midwesterner! Haha! Once I learned more about what a pasty was, I had to try it! So, while on Mackinac Island I went to Millie’s on Main for their famous Yooper Beef Pastie, and oh…my…goodness…it was incredible! It was deliciously made of ground beef, pork, potatoes, carrots, and rutabaga wrapped in a flaky crust with brown gravy all over it. Friends, this was amazing!

So you may be wondering what exactly is a pasty? Similar to an empanada or calzone, a pasty is a handheld meat and veggie pie. It’s a round of pastry dough, folded in half over the meat and veggie filling with the edges crimped. The tasty concoction is baked in an oven, producing an easy to eat, all-in-one meal. Think of it as a homemade Hot Pocket, only much better! Pasties have become a northern Michigan staple. Not only are they a flavorful handheld pastry, but they are also rich in Michigan history. Come along as I share the history behind this famous Michigan food.

The pasty can be dated all the way back to 1300 in Cornwall, England. Cornish peasants filled pasties with chipped beef, potatoes, rutabagas, and onions as they were hearty, flavorful meals the average family could afford. Then the pasty came to the United States when Cornish miners immigrated to the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan in the 1840s. The pasty gained popularity with miners because it was easy to bring into the mines for their lunch, kept them full throughout the long workdays, and could stay warm up to 10 hours. If the pasty did become cold, miners could easily heat it up by placing the pasty on a shovel and warming it over a heat-lamp candle. The miner would hold the pasty by the crimped edges so they would avoid contaminating their food with the toxic mine materials their hands were covered in, and then throw the crust away.

In time, Finnish and Italian immigrants came in even greater numbers to work in the Michigan mines. They soon fell in love with the pasty, introduced to them by their Cornish co-workers. With the influence of different cultures, pasty fillings began to evolve. For example, the Finnish prefer carrot over rutabaga in their pasties.

Once mining ended, the pasty lived on in Michigan. When the Mackinac Bridge opened in 1957 allowing tourism to the U.P. for Lower Peninsula Michiganders, pasties started to be sold in restaurants. In 1968, Governor George Romney made May 24th National Pasty Day statewide to celebrate the bridge between the Lower and Upper Peninsula cultures. In addition, there is also an annual Pasty Fest in Calumet, MI (see the town’s website for further information).

While the pasty spices differ between recipes and nationalities, something they all have in common is potatoes and onions. The traditional Cornish pasty has sliced vegetables (with rutabaga, not carrots) while the evolved Yooper pasty has diced vegetables. The correct way to eat a pasty is from the top down, so if you don’t finish the two-pound pastry you can save it for later. The U.P. pasty is eaten with ketchup only, but if you want to identify yourself as a tourist you can ask for gravy (yep, give me all the gravy! 😊).

Another reason I might need to check whether I am a true Midwesterner, is I recently learned that pasties are also a big hit in northern Minnesota – the state I grew up in, friends! Not good! 😊 The pasty was brought to the Iron Range in northern Minnesota by Cornish immigrants who came to the region in the early 20th century to work in the iron mines. As with the miners in Michigan, the pasty was adopted by other immigrant miners as the perfect lunch for grueling workdays — hearty, portable, and affordable. Some served the pasties with gravy, while others preferred ketchup. Today, there are Iron Range pasty variations that Cornish miners never would have considered, such as breakfast pasties filled with eggs and sausage, broccoli and cheese pasties, and German-inspired pasties with bratwurst and sauerkraut. Needless to say I will be taking a trip up north real soon (Duluth, Virginia, Chisholm, Hibbing, and Grand Rapids) to check out these variations of pasties! Also, in October there is an annual Iron Range Pasty Festival in Mountain Iron, MN. Oh for fun!

So, the next time you’re in Michigan…or northern Minnesota for that matter…be sure to try one of the warm, hearty, and tasty pasties. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!

History Sources: History of the Pasty; Grandpa Shorter’s Gifts; A Healthier Michigan; and Star Tribune