Iteration 1.0

The Pasty: Try it and you'll like it  Mar. 13, 1975

Early 1850's Cornish brought it here

Origin unknown thought to go back to when "the preparation of food became an

art rather than roasting a hunk of meat on a stick"

Cornish Pasty

Crust - 3 cups flour, 1 cup finely ground suet 1/4 cup lar 1 tsp. salt

6-7 tb. cold water

Filling - 1lb beef (cubed or diced) 1/2 lb. pork, potatoes, turnip, onion,

parseley, some finely grated carrots are optional

1300 wrote "Bred on chese, butere and milk, pastees and flaunes."

"Thys knight swolewed, in throte noght pering.  More then doth a pastay in onen

tryly"

Not unique to England, French Chronicler, Jean Froissart (1337-1414) wrote

"With botelles of wyne trusses at their sadelles, and pastyes of samonde,

troutes and eyls, wrapped in towels"  French call pasty tourtiere today.

1390 "And bad ordeire for here met Tuo Pastes."

Shakespeare in the Merry Wives of Windsor (1600)

"Come, we have a hot pasty to dinner"

Poem by Walter F. Gries of Marquette

I dearly love a pasty, a 'ot leaky one;

With mayt, turmit and taty, h'onyon and parsley in 'un

THe crus' be made weth suet, shaped like 'alf a moon;

Crinkly h'edges, freshly baked 'e es alway gone too soon!

Daily Mining Gazette June 19, 1976 "Cousin Jack's Mouth Organ"

Cousin Jack's Mouth Organ was another name for a pasty.  article mentions stuff

in standard recipe above, but also rutabagas.  Invented before the dinner

pail,wrapped in linen towel apron.

It caught on with other nationalities because "the steaming meat and potatoe

was quiete a change from cold sandwhiches and clammy pie they had to eat

before.  (Italians Scandinavians and Finns)

will stay war for 8 to 10 hours

Daily Mining Gazette April 28, 1972 Cornish Pasty day in state set for May 25

done by Governor William G. Milliken.

From Mines to Super Market Chronicle The Magazine of the Historical Society of

Michigan Spring 1980 Vol 16 No 1

pasty mention in Robin Hood ballads "pastes of venysoun"

Described as a sort of half-moon-shaped portable potpie without the pot.

Miners never time to go above ground for lunch, some reheated pasties by

setting them on a shovel held over head-lamp candles.  Katherine and John

Lehtos "we've changed our recipe a bit in the interest of health and to please

our customers who come back year after year."  Pasties today often use

vegetable shorening instead of lard, finely shaved beef suet for flavor,

unbleached flour instead of bleached.

Pasty caught on with every other nationality in the area.  Rivalry among the

Finns, Swedes, Irish, Poles, Germans, Scots, Italians and French each group

contributing something in the way of seasoning and other ingredients.  All

groups agree, pasties need potatoes and onions.  Miners never used a fork, ate

it end to end, held upright to keep juices in.

June 28 1978 Daily Mining Gazette Houghton

Over 250,000 pasties sold at Quatlity Super Valu Store in Laurium.

Sold that many in just 3 years.

Pasties from Schloegel's pamphlet

It's simply important to understand that the pasty is different from an

ordinary meat pie in spiritual, hisotrical, and design elemements as well as in

recipe. A word of caution to beginners, however: Never eat two at one sitting.

You may not be able to stand when done pasties are that filling.

The pasty has become the quintessential food symbol of the region"  Some note

that even the longish shape of the pasy resembles the geographic outline of the

region.

Arthurian Romances Chretien de Troyes published by Everyman

Eric and Enide written anywhere from 1150-1190 5139 (pg68)  Next Guivret opened

a chest and took out two pasties.  "My friend," says he, "now try a little of

these cold pasties."

Milwaukee Journal March 28, 1943  Welsh Meat and Vegetable Pasty

Brow ½ lb cubed lamb or beef in 2 tbsp fat  Remove from heat add 2 cups diced

raw potatoes, 1 ½ cups dried raw carrots one cup diced celery and leaves, 1

tbsp salt ¼ tsp. pepper mix thoroughly.  Make rich dough by sifting 4 cups

flour, 4 tsp. baking powder 1 ½ tsp. salt. cut in ¾ cup shortening.  Add milk

to make a soft dough.

Internet post by TMeyers@darkwolf.demon.co.uk 4-5-2000

Pastie started mine fire in 1890's.  A miner forgot about his meal warming on a

shovel.  The pasty caught fire and spread to the timber holding the walls up.

(unverified just a legend for now)

May 24, 1967  Daily Mining Gazette  So It Is - Pasty Day

Origin of Pasty is a mystery,  Mrs. R.F. Ellis of Cornwall thought pasty to be

a diminunitive of "star gazey pie" or a pie with fish heads sticking out the

top.  Others think the Vikings brought it to the British Isles when they

invaded.

Another theory thinks its derived from the Italian "pasta" since the Cousin

Jacks were considered great seamen.

(notice the similiarities between the name pasty and pasta)

1-19-1986  Star Ledger Galloping Gourmets Uncover the bare facts about pasties.

Came from England by way of Wisconsin where Cornish settlers arrived in the

mid-19th century to work the iron mines.  (may not be 100% historically

accurate)

Finnish pasties are made with ground beef and pork mixed together as dense as

meat loaf.

Finlandia Pasties Dough

4 cups flour, dash salt, 1 ½ cups solid vegetable shortening 1 cup cold water

Filling

½ lb ground beef ½ lb ground pork ¼ cup beef suet finely chopped

1 large potato peeled and cut into 3/8 in. cubes.  2 carrots peeled cut into

3/8 inch cubes  1 small red onion finely diced, ½ rutabaga or turnip peeled and

cut into 3/8 inch cubes. 1/8 cup fresh parsley finely chopped

May 18, 1968  Chicago Tribune  Lunch Crunches with Tuna Cheese Pasties

Tuna Pasties (5 servings)

1 can (7oz) tuna drained and flaked

1 cup (4oz) shredded cheddar cheese

¼ cup chopped celery

1 tbsp. chopped parsley

1/3 cup sour cream

1 package (8 oz) refrigerated biscuits

1 tbsp. butter melted

3-8-1980  Daily Mining Gazette Trinity Church Club once used pasty for support

1980 pasty price was $1.25

During depression you could get small pasty from Zurchar Pasty Shop on Qunicy

Street in Hancock for 10 cents, regular pasty 34 cents.  "Pasty sales always

have been popular in the Keweenaw Peninsula, the American birthplace of the

dough enveloped meal"  1843 opening of Cliff Mine, thought to be when Cornish

came and brought their pasties to the Keweenaw.  "It is believed that the main

reason for the adoption and adaption of the pasty in the Copper Country mining

area was the fact it would bear mobility."

3-26-1992 Daily Mining Gazette  Pasty making is lotsa work, hey?  You betcha!

Bill Lohela (Kaleva Cafe?) made pasties for 20 years (at least).  50 a day 300

days a year, he estimates he made at least 3.5 million.  During tourist summers

he makes several hundred daily.  During winter usually only 50 daily, unless

special order.  Largest order was for 5000 pasties, he made 1000 a day for 5

days.

Cornish Recipes Ancient and Modern 23rd edition with supplement by the Cornwall

Federation of Women's Institutes

(pg 31)  Staple dish of Cornwall

"It is said that the Devil never crossed the Tamar into Cornwall on account of

the well-known habit of Cornishwomen of putting everything into a pasty, and

that he was not sufficiently courageous to risk such a fate!  However, that maybe, the Cornish pasty, in its various forms, is a delectable dainty and

deservedly world famous."

When made the corner is marked with an initial so each family member knows who

is who's.

"The true Cornish way to eat a pasty is to hold it in the hand, and begin to

bite it from the opposite end to the initial, so that should any of it be

uneaten it may be consumed later by its rightful owner.  And woe betide anyone

who take's another person's "corner"!"

Cornwall's Legacy to American Mining, Part III  C.H. Vivian Compressed Air May

pasties were "piece de resistance" of the miner's lunch.  Angus Murdoch, "The

pasty is a sort of portable beef stew folded into a purse of pie dough and

baked to a rich golden brown."  No one but a Cousin Jenny could do a proper

job.  True Cornish pasty were only beef, potatoes

Cornwall's Legacy to American Mining, Part III C.H. Vivian  Compressed Air May

1970.

Pasties were "piece de resistance" of the miner's lunch.  Angus Murdoch, "The

pasty is a sort of portable beef stew folded into a purse of pie dough and

baked to a rich golden brown."  No one but a Cousin Jenny could do a proper

job.  True Cornish pasty were only beef, potatoes and onions.  The One Cardinal

rule was to use only the best cuts of beef.  1964 pasty cost 50 cents in

Michigan.  "The pasty can still be found in a few American communities, but in

some of them it has fallen on evil days."

Daily Mining Gazette 11-2-1978  Pasty sale will aid crippled.

(got this article mainly for headline, it didn't say much, except time and day

of the sale.  I got it to show its cultural impact in the area if the pasty

"helps" the crippled to raise money)

Daily Mining Gazette 8-29-1988  Cooks promote Cornish Pasty

Suzann Sherman  "We made traditional pasties, egg and meat pasties and small

date pasties that were like a dessert"  (during depression)  Traditional

Cornish pasty served with coleslaw.  Ketchup, gravy unheard of topping when

they were growing up.  Frozen pasties no-no, don't warm them in microwaves as

it ruins the crust.

Chicago Tribune December 10, 1967  Legends Echoes from Etched Cornwall Cliffs

1967 Pasty in Cornwall cost 18 cents.

Chicago Tribune Oct 1st, 1972  Cornwall:  Land of King Arthur

Made out of barley flour when wheat was too expensive.  They say it was so hard

"it could be dropped down a mine shaft without breaking."   "Dropped from a

height it can be lethal"  Claims that pasty was invented by the poor working

folk of Cornwall.

Copper Country 101 All Time Favorites  Recipes Calumet Woman's Club Calumet, MI 11th edition 1981

English Pasties

Crust: 3 cups flour, 1 tbs salt, 1 cup lard 1 cup cold water

filling: 1 lb flank steak, 1/2 lean pork 4 medium potatoes, 1 small turnip, 1

medium onion.

recipe by Mrs. Jack Mugford

Did They Really Eat That?  A 19th century cookbook that acquainted immigrants

with northwoods pioneer fare. (1992)

2 cups raw potatoes, 1 cup diced rutabaga, 1 1/2 lbs pasty meat or ground beef

1/2 tsp. pepper, 1 large diced onion 1/2 cup diced carrot 1 1/2 tsp. salt

dough 1 lb. shortening 1 tsp. salt 6 cups flour

Daily Mining Gazette 6-22-1974  Fr. Nancarrow sees a pasty as a meal plus.

"Truly the pasty must not only be a delightful balanced meal but a concoction

which exudes good will, also."

The story of my life Alfred Nichools Sept. 10 1864 -Sept 20, 1938

"My favorite choice, almost invariably, was a pasty filled with meat only and

boilded in the broth(soup).  I remember to this day my thoughts at the time,

when devouring it, that nothing throughout the years to come would ever taste

better, however sumptuously prepared."

(he was Cornish and lived in Cornwall during his youth, both mom and dad were

Cornish, his father was a blacksmith)

Pasty shop owners say Goodbye to business 9-1-82  Daily Mining Gazette

Most - 500 pasties in a day, average about 50 a day.

The coral Shop is a Union Alternative (Lode) 4-22-1981

$1.25 for a pasty

Kirkish enjoys running Kaleva.  10-6-1983

Pasties made Finnish style and sells between 40,00 and 45,000 a year.

One pasty at a time, Stillwaters is cooking a recipe for success, Daily Mining

Gazette 6-24-1997

Over the net 5.75 plus shipping or six for 29.95 shipping included.  Locals can

get one for $3.  Make 4000-5000 a year, 1 week 100 pasties ordered.  Get orders

from all over the world, Japan New Zealand.  Bought dry ice machine, just for

pasties.

Pasty Central reaches Milestones  Daily Mining Gazette 5-6-1998

sold 10,00 pasties in a year, finally shipped pasties to every state (North

Dakota last one)  Nations leading supplier of the pasty via the internet.

10,000 a year mark means it is inspected by the FDA and has labels.

Sharing Our Best 1980

Cornish Pasties - Eleanor Lanyon Pieti

Pastry: 4 c. flour 1/2 lb. lard

filling: 1 sm. flank steak (1 lb) 3 med. potatoes, butter, 1 T. salt, 1 1/4

c. water (ice) 1 sm. turnip or rutabaga, 1 lg. onion , salt and pepper

Favorite Recipes (Upper Peninsual of Michigan National Federation of Business

and Professional Women's Clubs. INc.)  1978

English Pasty

Dough:  8 c. spooned flour, 1 lb. lard, 2 T. salt, 2 1/2 c. ice water

filling:  1 lb. lean beef or flank stead, 3/4 lb lean pork, 8 small potatoes, 1

small turnip or rutabaga, 3 small onions, salt pepper to taste, butter

Upper Peninsula Pasties

4 c. flour, 2 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 c. shortening, yellow Fluffo, 10 T. ice water, 2

lbs. round steak, 5 peeled and chopped large potatoes, 1 (1 1/2 c.) small

cubedturnip or rutabaga, 1 to 2 large onion, finely chopped, 1 T. salt, 1

tsp. fresh ground pepper

Folklife Annual 1986 (American Folklife Center at the Library of COngress)

Immigrant to Ethnic Symbols of Identity Among Finnish Americans, By: Yvonne

Hiipakka Lockwood  "What is called a Cornish pasty elsewhere is an Upper

Peninsula Pasty in Michigan, for pasty's symbolic meaning changed from ethnic

to multi-ethnic and finally regional."  Time of mass migration end 19th start

20th century, Cornish were well established skilled workers, the new

immigrants(Finns, Italians, Poles, Croats, and Serbs) were the unskilled

labor.  Since Cornish were the foremen, and mining captains the new immigrants

looked at them as the models of American life.  Wherever the Cornish settled,

the pasty was spread to the other groups in that area.  "Not just a recipe but

an entire cultural complex passed from individual to individual and from one

ethnic group to another: the uses, the way of eating, the practice of marking

individual pasties, and so on."  It was readily adopted by other ethnic groups

because it was so strongly associated with mining.  It stayed warm a long time, was easily portable in a pale and could be eaten with your hands.  In 1864 a

small wave of Fins came to the UP, well after the Cornish were established,

when the big mining wave of Fins came 30 years later, they probably learned

pasty making from the older Fins, not the Cornish.  Pasty resembles piiraat andkuuko, so when they see their countrymen carrying it in a pale, they think that the Fins invented the pasty.   The existence of a similiar food in Finland made it easier for th

em to adopt it.  Since there are more Finns, pasty is

considered a Finnish food. (up here)  At Finnish "ethnic" church suppers and

annual Finnish celebrations the pasty is a featured Finnish specialty.

Pasty Perfection Book details history of area's famous food DMG 7-19-93

Dan Rather described it as a "Scandinavian pot pie" in a 1989 report on

the UP.

naval recruiter in Houghton called it "Yooper Burrito"

Suomi publication now calls it "the most delicious, mouth-watering

delicacy in the history of culinary artistry."

Finnish pasty bears no similarity to the "pasty" relished by American

Finns.  According to the Wall street journal it more closely resembles

(Finland pasty) the Russian dish "the piroshki"