Pasties in the Land?

During my college days in Madison I fell in love with the Pastie, which is essentially ground beef, potatoes, carrots, onions in a crispy pastry shell and seems to be another Wisconsin original. In Madison I always managed to make it to Myle's Teddy Wedgers at least once a week, its located near the capitol on State St and it was one of the better dining deals in town, a half which was very filling runs about $3.00. I havent been able to find or randomly come across and place in Chicago where I could get one of these, heated or frozen. Has anybody found anything close to these available in Chicago?

Myles' Teddywedgers Cornish Pasty
101 State Street
Madison, WI 53703
257-2383

I suspect the dish to which you refer is, in fact, the Cornish Pasty, which has its origins on the other side of the pond to the east... by which I mean the UK and not Michigan In fact, if Wikipedia is to be believed (sometimes a dicey proposition), it appears to have been brought to Wisconsin in the 19th century by Cornish miners seeking work. As such, my guess is that your best bet would be the local British pubs. I'm not familar with them, but I'm sure somebody else will jump in momentarily.

Addendum: Nevermind, it's clearly a Cornish Pasty that you're after, as it's in the name of the restaurant you reference... my reading comprehension tends to decline after 3:00 AM

I'm afraid the closest decent pasty (apart from the ones in my freezer that I brought back from the U.P. this weekend ) may be in Kenosha. A longer, but even less useful, discussion (which also pays tribute to Myles Teddy Wedgers) is here.

My long-time favorite, Jean Kay's in Marquette, MI now has USDA inspection and is shipping nationwide. But I noticed in the local paper that they've got new owners, and although they'd be crazy to change the recipe, I'm reluctant to urge you to order some until I've checked them out. Which I will do.

Da Beef wrote:Pastie, which is essentially ground beef, potatos, carrots, onions in a crispy pastry shell and seems to be another Wisconsin original

While pasties can surely be found in Wisconsin, the UP is the true pasty central. Jean Kay's in Marquette used to be my favorite as well, always "with". I ordered a dozen this past winter (shipped frozen overnight) and they were great. I'm pretty sure that was post ownership change, so eat with confidence.

Hi,

This a link to a frozen pastie source in Kenosha.

Woodman's Grocery at I94 and Wisconsin Highway 50 also has frozen pasties.

Regards,

Woodmans has a number of brands of pasties in their stores including a couple from the "UP".

If you like the meat pie concept and can handle some tongue-slapping heat, Jamaican beef patties might be the hot-ass cousin of the pasty. Beef, onion and Scotch bonnet peppers all ground up and tucked into a neon yellow-orange, flaky pastry square.

You can buy them hot out of the oven or frozen, to-go, from the Caribbean American Baking Co.. The Ethnic Grocery Tour lady introduced me to this place, and I make a pilgrimage every month or so to stock up.


Caribbean American Baking Co.
1539 W Howard St at Bosworth Ave
(773-761-0700)

Woodman's Grocery at I94 and Wisconsin Highway 50 also has frozen pasties.

The Woodman's in North Aurora opens Wednesday. It's located at Orchard and Oak Street, just west of Randall Road and north of I-88. Can't wait to check it out.

tcdup wrote:The Woodman's in North Aurora opens Wednesday. It's located at Orchard and Oak Street, just west of Randall Road and north of I-88. Can't wait to check it out.

Wednesday, as in tomorrow? That is the best news I've heard all day. (The only drawback being that they will not likely carry New Glarus beer, one of the main reasons I would head up to the Kenosha store. A girl can only live so long without Belgian Red.)

Woodman's will open in North Aurora on Wednesday, June 7. I'm hoping to fall in love with a new grocery store. I was disappointed in Marsh's in Naperville, on Rte 59, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed....

This place used to have them, along with bangers and other enticing meat-food and bread. I haven't been there for a while, but now I'm hankering for pasties and meat pies; I'll stop by in the next few days.

BTW: They're easy enough to make at home, which I usually do (but now I have to clean cottonwood mess from the backyard).

GAELIC IMPORTS 4736 N AUSTIN AVE CHICAGO IL 60630 312 545-6615

Cheers,
Wade

Ah Yes Woodmans, I would go to the one off stoughton in Madison for all my grocery needs when I was there. I do remember grabbing pasties many times while I was there, Ill have to check it out this weekend, except now I feel like i have to go to one in Wisconsin so I can grab some spotted cow, thanks for reminding me about that too. As far as the beef pattys from Jamiaca, I love those, Ive been back to Negril every year since I went there on spring break in '03 and I plan on returning every spring to follow. I prefer the beef pattys at the Jamiacan spot in Hyde Park, I cant think of the name right now but I feel like theyre much better than the bakery's and taste much like the ones found up and down Norman Manley BLVD

Da Beef:

Do tell more...Hyde Park is much easier for me to get to than Howard St. What street is it on?

There is a store in Long Grove (a fair distance from Chicago, I realize, but closer than Madison) called British Accents, and it carries a wide selection of foods and gifts from the British Isles, including a freezer full of pasties, sausage rolls, and meat pies. It is also a great place to pick up mushy peas, Bird's custard, HP Sauce, ginger beer, and many other items one may have learned to love in the UK.

And as an additional point of interest on Cornish pasties, they traditionally have a very broad closure, wider than one might think necessary for sealing a meat pie. This was because the Cornish miners were taking these to work with them, and there hands would be covered with mineral dust, some of it dangerously unhealthful. The wide strip of pastry that closed the pastie could be used to hold the pastie as the meat-filled portion was consumed, and then the dirty crust could be tossed out -- miner full and safe from metal dust.

crrush wrote:If you like the meat pie concept and can handle some tongue-slapping heat, Jamaican beef patties might be the hot-ass cousin of the pasty. Beef, onion and Scotch bonnet peppers all ground up and tucked into a neon yellow-orange, flaky pastry square.

You can buy them hot out of the oven or frozen, to-go, from the Caribbean American Baking Co.. The Ethnic Grocery Tour lady introduced me to this place, and I make a pilgrimage every month or so to stock up.


Caribbean American Baking Co.
1539 W Howard St at Bosworth Ave
(773-761-0700)

Crrush's description sounded so good that I went over to Caribbean American Baking Co. for some beef patties today at lunchtime. They were fantastic! Hot & spicy (but not overwhelming) and the price is right, too - just $1.62 apiece or $18.15 / doz. for patties about the size of my palm.

They also offer jerk chicken (which they were out of today), curry chicken (which I tried but didn't like nearly as much as the beef), and vegetable patties at the same price, as well as something called "coctail" patties (I assume smaller versions) for $7.04 / doz. - they say to call ahead for the coctail patties.

I'll be going back here for sure.....

http://www.caribbeanamericanbakery.com/

Here is the info for what I consider to be the best patty found in Chicago, I just feel like these have a little more kick and taste more authentic then the ones found at Carribean bakery, which I find pretty bland and tasteless, however ive only been to the bakery once, so I will try them again.

Nathan's Taste of Jamaica
1372 East 53rd Street
288-5353
Hot dogs, Jamaican items (jerk chicken, curried goat, calaloo), burritos, gyros, and more.

a few more links for mail order pattys

http://www.sams247.com/Patties-howto.aspx

http://www.hot-pie.com/ --These are very good, man I wish kids came to my door with these instead of cookies for fundraisers, gotta love Florida.

If you think Caribbean Baking Co.'s patties are bland, I'm curious to see what kind of 'kick' Nathan's patties have. Try CAB again and let me know what you think. I'll report back on Nathan's, too.

If you want a real treat, ask the nice lady behind the counter to heat up some coco bread for you to put your patty in. The bread is uber-soft, salty-sweet and slightly oily, and has this neat little fold baked into the bread so you can split it open and pop your patty in...it catches any stray patty drippings, but the contrast of the light sweetness and texture with the crispy, savory patty is pretty awesome.

I asked my Mom who hails from the UP seem to remember being able to purchase pasties from someplace called...

Gordon Food Service
on Roosevelt Rd in Lombard

I googled and wasn't able ot find a match?!?

Mmmmm. Pasties.

Gordon Food Service is aka GFS. They're a huge foodservice distributor with stores open to the public.

I'm surprised to hear they have/had pasties, but given the other offbeat frozen stuff I've sometimes seen there, I don't really doubt it.

Gordon Food Service: Marketplace Store
(630) 832-3354
220 E Roosevelt Rd
Villa Park, IL 60181

And, in fact, a quick googling shows they've had in-store product demos of their pasties, which are:

101567 Albie's Beef Pasties

Case: 6 - 4 count packages. A flaky dough stuffed with beef, potatoes, rutabagas, onions, and spices. Heat in oven or microwave. 4 - 10 oz. pasties per package.

101575 Albie's Chicken Pasties

Case: 6 - 4 count packages. A flaky dough stuffed with chicken, potatoes, broccoli, carrots, onions, and spices. Heat in oven or microwave. 4 - 10 oz. packages.

Hoo boy, and this one is too weird:

ALBIE'S FOODS INC., a small grocery and catering company in Gaylord, Mich.,
received an unusual letter in 2001 from the law firm representing jelly
giant J.M. Smucker Co. The letter accused Albie's?which sells pastries and
sandwiches in northern Michigan?of violating Smucker's intellectual
property by selling crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

In particular, Smucker's claimed that Albie's had infringed Smucker's
recently granted U.S. Patent No. 6004596, which gives the Orrville, Ohio,
company broad protection on its "sealed crustless sandwich." In a move that
undoubtedly surprised the jam magnates, Albie's decided to defend itself in
federal court. Albie's law firm noted in its filings that the "pasty"?a
meat pie with crimped edges?has been popular fare in northern Michigan
since the immigration of copper and iron miners from Cornwall, England, in
the 19th century.

Some more details are available at Wikipedia's entry on sealed crustless sandwiches.

. . . still has great fresh refrigerated pasties, sausage rolls, and bridies (incredibly flaky crusts). Nice selection of Irish bacon, bangers, blood sausages (ATTENTION: Alderman Moore), and frozen Shepherd's Pie. You have to get there early; they were out of bridies at noon today, but I got the last six pasties (they had a few available frozen). Six pasties, four sausage rolls and a Shepherd's pie (more later) were $23.

No credit/debit cards; only cash and (no flames, please) personal checks.



L-R: Pasty and sausage roll.

GAELIC IMPORTS 4736 N AUSTIN AVE CHICAGO IL 60630 312 545-6615


Cheers,
Wade

I'll say this, that sure doesn't look like any pasty I've seen in the UP. Perhaps it's a true Cornwall-ian pasty, though.

HI,

For comparison, this is a UP-type pastie I made last year:



I have in my freezer some Jamaican meat pies I bought in Waukegan, though they are made in Chicago. I was unaware of the potential heat they may throw until I read this thread. When someone stated there are Scotchbonnets in those pies I just about curled up and died. I'm glad I read it here before I innocently bit into one.

Regards,

Cathy:

The heat varies. The patties you can get at almost every late-night NYC pizza place are pretty bland. I've even had mild-ish batches from Caribbean Baking Co., but for the most part, they do pack heat. Not overwhelming, in my opinion, but if you're not a fan of that kind of spice, consume with caution.

most of the lunch trucks that cater to the cabbies sell Jamaican patties. I like VV's which parks near the fire station on Upper Columbus across from the Fairmont Hotel. The patty has a bit of heat, but it's more plucky heat than scorch your tongue off. If you've ever seen a girl walking north on the bridge, over the river, wolfing down a bright orange crusty thing, that would probably be yours truly. They are the perfect walking and eating food item. (And $2 each is easy on the wallet!)

bjt

I'll say this, that sure doesn't look like any pasty I've seen in the UP. Perhaps it's a true Cornwall-ian pasty, though.

Ed, you are entirely correct. The pasty here is the traditional one, not the pasty that evolved in the U.P. I like both styles.

For some reason, when I make them at home, I always make the U.P. type; they're dead-ringers for Cathy2's.

Cheers,
Wade

I've been led astray.

Da Beef, on your rec. I checked out Nathan's beef patty, and I can't say that I've ever had a more limp, flavorless, sketchy patty in my life. Seriously. I think you owe me an apology, and about $3 in gas.

I AM kidding...about the apology and the gas money. But not about the patty. I think they steamed that sucker--so much so that it had the faint flavor and consistency of a tamale. The pastry shell was so lifeless and flaccid, the seam where it's supposed to be sealed came open...so of course I had to LOOK at the insides. Not pretty. And heat? Not even a whiff of Scotch bonnets. This patty is the same one served up in NYC pizza dives, but it couldn't even muster up the courage to be even slightly crispy or flaky.

I challenge thee to a patty-off. There is no way the patty you described is the same one I just ate. Perhaps you confused the two places? When was the last time you had one?

Nothing personal...it's just about the patty.

That sucks to hear because I was there over a year ago but it was the best I have found in Chicago, It was full of spice the owner said he got them shipped from Miami, no way they were the same if they taste as you say. South Florida has many great pattie spots but the best Ive found are from Juici patties a chain throughout Jamaica, when Im there I eat at this place at least once a day. The one in Negril is located at the end of Norman Manley BLVD a block down from the towns main grocery store. I will try CB but last time I was there which was about 4 months ago I didnt care for them. It looks like Ill be ordering my patties until I find better.


http://www.juicipatties.com/-- No spot in the US but available at grocery stores in Canada.

I finally got around to heating the frozen, to-go shepherd's pie.

Here's dinner tonight:



GAELIC IMPORTS 4736 N AUSTIN AVE CHICAGO IL 60630 312 545-6615

Cheers,
Wade

For frozen Cornish Pasties / Pasty , we go to Celtic Home & Hearth in Richmond, IL. (McHenry County). They have them in their freezer along with bangers , meat pies, etc....

Celtic Home & Hearth
5604 Broadway
Richmond, IL 60071
815 678-4774
www.celtichomeandhearth.com