Who invented the pasty?
That’s a little like asking who discovered fire, because not long after, somebody was using the heat to bake meat pies. Sometime later, Cornish miners (I don’t want to argue, if you insist it was some other ethnic group, I’ll concede the point.) brought them to the iron and copper mines of the Upper Peninsula. The mining industry was huge in the middle and late 1800s, and attracted thousands of immigrants from all over the world. Each successive wave of immigrants adopted and adapted both the mining techniques and the off-the-job customs of their predecessors. Pasties were a great way to do lunch, so eventually everyone did, but with local and ethnic variations. For fear of starting an argument, I won’t even mention rutabagas or potatoes. There was self-interest, certainly. Everyone wanted a hot, convenient lunch. But there wasn’t mutual self-interest. Different bakers didn’t get together to create the Pasty Capital of the U.P. No group instituted a dress code. You’ve seen the corner w
