Pasty origins are a time capsule of traditional British food. From the first recorded Cornish pasties to versions that spread around the world, they all tell the same story: people needed a hot, filling meal they could carry with them when they needed a taste of home.

First made popular in Cornwall for miners to carry in their pockets for lunch, by the early 1800s mining in Cornwall started slowing down. Jobs disappeared and thousands of miners left to find work in other parts of the world. They took their mining skills with them, and they also brought their food traditions. A lot of them ended up in the copper country of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. In the mid-1800s towns like Calumet and Houghton were booming because of copper mining. Cornish miners were known for being some of the best underground miners in the world, so they were hired in large numbers. And when they arrived, the pasty came with them.

Turns out the pasty worked perfectly in the U.P. mines too. It was hot, filling, and easy to carry underground. Over time it became a part of everyday life up there. Families passed recipes down for generations. Little roadside pasty shops started popping up all over the region. Today the pasty is basically the signature food of the Upper Peninsula, alongside a delicious smoked whitefish dip.

Alicia and I first discovered them on a trip up to the U.P. We were driving through small towns and kept seeing these little shops with signs that just said “PASTIES.” So we stopped and tried one, and then another, and then another. We were hooked. It’s simple food done right. Flaky crust, hearty filling, nothing fancy, just really good comfort food that makes sense when it’s cold outside, a homemade meal when you can’t make it home, or taste of your mom’s kitchen waiting for you after for after long days work (or hike, which was mostly what we were doing on vacation).

A few years later we returned to Maine. Cravings came around and we started talking. Mainers would absolutely love these. Maine understands working towns, cold winters, and good honest food. Pasties fit right in here. So we decided to bring a little piece of the Upper Peninsula out to the East Coast.

Because the people here deserve to know how good a real pasty can be.

Yooper: A person who lives in the Upper Peninsula (U. P.) of Michigan. (U.P. > Yoo-P-er > yooper)