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HARRISVILLE – They may be made south of the Mackinac Bridge in Harrisville, but Kathy Hale’s pasties are as authentic as any from the Upper Peninsula.
Hale, the owner of the Fruit of the Spirit Cannery and Bakery, learned the family recipe from her 104-year-old grandmother, Silvia (Lasanen) Gehres.
The opening of the shop in December was the culmination of a dream that began in 1999 for Hale.
She wanted to open a cannery, and even went to school at Michigan State University to get certification in better process control.
“My mom and I were going to do it together and she became ill, so we kind of went into two different directions,” she said. “Fast forward 16 years and my cousin said she is opening a restaurant and I could turn the back room into a commercial kitchen.”
Gehres, who is of Finnish descent, was raised on pasties in Calumet, lives in Lincoln and taught her granddaughter everything she knew about making a perfect U.P. meat pie.
The pies are stuffed with meat, potatoes, carrots, celery, onions and in some cases rutabagas, and baked in a buttery and flaky outer crust.
There is controversy, Hale said, on to whether Finnish immigrants or Cornish immigrants brought the pasty to the U.P., but what is certain is the pies became fast food for iron ore miners who would bring the confections into the mines for their meals.
“The original crusts were much stronger than they are now because the miners would eat them in their hands,” Hale said. “The pasties were quite substantial and they would carry them in their bags or their packs. They would be cooked and they would take them out and heat them on their shovels over their lanterns.”
Although the recipe has changed from the traditional recipe – the crust is much lighter and flaky, Hale said – pasties are still to feed a family. Hale’s pasties are enough for two people, and although there are a few tweaks to the recipe, her grandmother approves.
“She loves them,” Hale said. “It’s funny and I always encourage her to critique, so she will tell me, ‘you need a little bit more salt and pepper and not so much meat’ but my brothers say not to take out any of the meat.”
There is one ingredient, a staple for many pasty lovers that a person would not find in one of Gehres’ tradition pasties.
“What we always grew up with is a ground beef, potatoes, onions carrots and a little bit of celery for flavor and some seasonings,” Hale said. “But as we started making them here everyone said ‘where is the rutabaga?’ And now that is a big seller but I have to admit we didn’t grow up with that.”
Hale said she likes the flavor it can bring to a pasty, though there are other flavors she makes, including her grandmother’s recipe, with and without rutabaga, chicken pasties, and vegetable pasties, though there are animal products in the crust. She said she is also making a completely vegetarian pasty.
Hale said the bakery will focus on making pasties and fruit pies. Later in the year she hopes to get into selling canned goods – pickled foods, salsas and other acidic or acidified preserved foods – after a state certification.
Pasties can be purchased refrigerated or frozen from her shop. For a hot one, customers can go next door to The Northern Lights Cafe where they are served on the menu.
More information about the shop can be found by calling 724-7001 or by emailing Kathy at fruitspirit@yahoo.com.
Jason Ogden can be reached via email at jogden@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5693. Follow Jason on Twitter @jo_alpenanews. Read his blog, Sunny side up, with Jason at www.thealpenanews.com.