Pasty (It rhymes with nasty)

I've eaten them on "The Range" in northern Minnesota and found them in little towns on the U.P. I've never eaten one I liked better than the pasties we got in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. This old town was settled in the 1830 by miners from Cornwall, England. They emigrated to work the lead and zinc mines in this area. They brought the miner's traditional dinner, the pasty. It is a pastry wrapped beef, rutabega, potato and onion meal. There is an old restored section of town called "Shake Rag Alley" where the settler's lived. Their wives would bake the pasties and then signal the men at the mine dinner was ready by shaking a white cloth (rag) outdoors until they knew it was time to eat.

In other areas pasties were sent in the miner's lunch pail. Sometimes they were too deep in the mine to break and go home for dinner. This was the original pot pie. I love them and several restaurants have them as a specialty there.