Mining Gremlins Advantages And Disadvantages

In regards to Cornish mining in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, this immigrant group was the pinnacle of mining. Cornish immigrants came to the United States for the sole purpose of mining. It is said that other ethnic groups who mined with the Cornish looked up to them in admiration. They wanted to be more like the Cornish immigrants. They wanted to mine like them and they wanted to live like them. This entailed everything from the way they swung an axe to the food they ate for lunch. This is where the pasty comes into play. There were many immigrant groups coming to the United States in the 1800s. While researching this dish, I came across an article called; “Elements of the Pasty and Its Relation to the Lake”, by Matthew Gavin Frank.

Miners would often put their initials in the bottom corner of the pasty; this was to be eaten last. In doing this, miners would be able to recognize their pasty at a later time if they were not able to finish their food in one sitting. However, many cornish miners believed that the initialed corner should not be eaten. These men thought it should be dropped to ground for the “mining gremlins” to consume. These so-called “mining gremlins” were responsible for mining disasters, accidents, and collapses (MTU). It was thought that feeding the gremlins would result in a lesser chance of disaster to strike. As these stories and myths progressed, they were changed along the way. Many families who reside in the Upper Peninsula have their own myth or tale surrounding the pasty. Shoemaker says that “No other food evokes such vivid memories, nostalgia, and intense debate, as the Cornish pasty, in the Upper Peninsula” (Shoemaker 246). Shoemaker goes on to make a great point in regards to the implications and significance of the pasty. She says that pasties speak to home life, “of grandmothers and mothers in the comfort of their warm kitchens and hard-working fathers off at the mine”, it connects to “school lunches, church bake-sales, of picnics, of college day” (Shoemaker 247). The pasty is so easily able to be connected to various classes and ages of people. This is the reason for the pasty being so regionally

As mentioned before, pasty recipes are different in just about every home. The are two major stages in the creation of the pasty; the crust and the filling. According to an old cookbook used within my family, “500 recipes for the Copper Country’s Finest Cooking”, the crust is composed with flour, shortening, water, and salt (Copper Country). However, one must be gentle with their hands in the construction of the pasty crust. In regards to the filling, the same recipe calls for ground chuck or ground steak, diced potatoes, diced onions, carrots, salt, pepper, and parsley. The dish is normally baked at around 400 degrees for anywhere between 40 and 60 minutes (Copper Country). Notice that this exact recipe was taken from a cookbook that is composed directly from the kitchens of the Upper Peninsula. In older times, rutabega was often used in place of the carrots. Many people view the appearance of the crust as a factor that can make a “good” pasty be a fantastic pasty. Despite there being thousands of different ways to construct the pasty, this sample recipe shows the many different foods and flavors that go into this famous Upper Peninsula