Chris LeBlanc enjoys a pasty from the Mohawk Superette in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan. Pam LeBlanc photo
Take a pastry crust, fill it with meat, potatoes and root vegetables, bake until golden, and voila – you’ve got a pasty.
Think of the hand-held meat pies, a comfort food staple in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, as the state’s answer to the burrito. They’re easy to transport, hearty, filled with whatever makes you happy, and the locals love them.
So do I, it turns out.
During this week’s trip to the Keweenaw Peninsula in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I kept noticing signs for pasties. When I naively picked up a Pasty Trail Map at the local visitors bureau, I figured I could hit at least half the spots on the 11-stop route in a single day.
Turns out I hit my max after one, and not because I didn’t like it. The traditional pasty I ate at the Mohawk Superette in the community of Mohawk was bigger than a clenched fist. I ate it on a picnic table next to the highway out in front of the no-frills roadside store, and felt like I needed to nap immediately afterward.
The history of Michigan’s pasties
The popularity of pasties dates to the 1850s, when coal miners from Cornwall immigrated to Northern Michigan to work in the copper mines.
“Like everything else round here, it goes back to mining,” says Brad Barnett, executive director of Visit Keweenaw, where I picked up a copy of the Pasty Trail Map. “They came to Keweenaw in search of opportunity and brought with them their love of pasties.”
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The miners made their meat pies with wide crimped edges so they could take them underground and hold onto them with dirty hands as they ate, then toss out the crusts. Plus, they held up nicely until mealtime.
Traditionally, a pasty is filled with ground meat, potatoes, and rutabaga or other root vegetables. But some makers do a unique spin, like a Thanksgiving version with turkey, cranberries and gravy.
“It’s almost like a potluck,” Barnett says of the pies. “It’s got something comforting about it.”
You can pick up a pasty trail map and passport at the Visit Keweenaw Visitors Center in Calumet, home of the Pasty Fest each August. Stop at every restaurant on the list, snap a photo and collect a stamp from each one, and you’ll get free schwag when you turn it in.