Pastry rolled out like a plate,
Piled with turmut, tates and mate,
Doubled up, and baked like fate,
That’s a Cornish pasty.
With family roots going back to Cornwall England and a grandfather who worked in the mines of Pennsylvania, it is no wonder that I ate plenty of pasties growing up. Both of my parents grew up in the coal regions of PA and there are plenty of local dishes that made it to our dinner table.
I love pasties and have made them for my own family – they are incredibly filling and really hit the right spot on cold winter nights.
Our family version called for a pie crust, which was then layered with sliced potatoes on the bottom, ground beef or chopped stew meat and then onions. A sprinkle of salt and pepper on top. The crust was folded over and crimped along the sides. They were served with either ketchup or a tomato chutney that my grandmother would have jarred. One site I read said that the women would pierce the pasty’s crust with their husbands’ initials, so that when they were at work in the mines, they would know which pasty belonged to them. In our house, my brother was the only one who got a specially pierced crust – his pasty had no onions.
When I came by this link on Metafilter I could harldy believe my eyes. The humble pasty is all over the internet! They are even available for mail order. I was inspired to do a google search on the history of the pasty and pages of sites came up. Here are some pasty quotes from literature …
The Merry Wives of Windsor: Act 1 Scene 1
PAGE: Wife, bid these gentlemen welcome. Come, we have a hot venison pasty to dinner: come gentlemen, I hope we shall drink down all unkindness.
All’s Well That Ends Well: Act IV Scene III
PAROLLES: I will confess to what I know without constraint: if ye pinch me like a pasty , I can say no more.
after all of this, I wonder if I have any ground beef to make pasties for dinner tonight ….. my stomach is growling!
purlingswine 
Located right between mining areas in SW Wisconsin and the U.P. of Michigan, we are quite familiar with the yummy goodness of pasties in these parts. In fact, there’s a pasty shop (and there’s more than one in the vicinity) right across the street from my LYS!
FREAKALICIOUS!
Last night my SO’s parents showed up (having come from Michigan) with a cooler full of pasties!
We had the best pasties in the world on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. YUM!! Can I come over for dinner? This lady, in Cornball (as Gracie called it) made ’em in her garage. YUM YUM
Oh, blast, now I’m starving for a pasty…
I was complaining the whole ride home that I missed you. I kept craning at every “banff-ish” sweater that I passed…. Next time for sure. I may try to get to NY for a day at the end of November. Maybe I can catch you then?
Now that I have a drop spindle to practice on, I should be all primed for you to show me the wheel-auction ropes at MDS&W. :)
I love my mom’s pasties which of course she learned to make from Grammy. I just bought ingredients to make my own pasties a couple of days ago. I will be cheating by using the pre-fab dough. The dough is my faovorite part! Lynne and I fought over the pasty dough last week at Mom’s (she swiped a golden flaky chunk right off of my plate! She will never change! Nor will I! LOL) In my book pasties will always be the finest example of comfort food.