By all reports, the pasty originated in Cornwall, England; an area still known for its pasties.

The pasty started life as a working lunch for tin miners to take underground with them. Easy to carry, the pasty could be eaten even with dirty fingers.

The tradition was brought to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan by immigrants who worked the copper and iron mines of the upper UP. The mines are no longer operating, but the pasty lives on in the minds and kitchens of "yoopers" everywhere.

While the pasty perhaps arrived in the New World much as it had left England, it has evolved during its hundreds of years as an Upper Peninsula staple.

The most obvious is that, while the vegetables are sliced in the Cornish pasty, in its Upper Peninsula counterpart, they are diced.