Nevada County Gold Magazine | Page 96

EAT & DRINK
Cousin Jack Pasties

order for the miners to remain safe.
Cornish miners carried their noonday meal
into the mine in buckets that had three
compartments. Typically there was brewed
tea in the bottom, a pastie in the middle
and a saffron bun on the top. Down in the
mine, the bucket hung from a stick with a
candle burning below it, keeping the meal
warm for the worker’s midday break.
The men of Cornwall claimed that the
Devil feared setting foot in their homeland
because it was widely known that a Cornish
woman would put anything she could lay
her hands on straight into a pastie!
Pasties are still made and enjoyed locally,
with both traditional recipes and innovative
combinations of ingredients. They are perfect for an authentic Nevada County picnic.

COUSIN JACK PASTIES
100 S. Auburn Street, Grass Valley. [phone]

MARSHALL’S PASTIES
203 Mill Street, Grass Valley. [phone]

TREAT BOX BAKERY
11400 Donner Pass Rd., Truckee [phone]

©JIM BECKETT – SUGAR PINE STUDIOS

B

EGINNING IN THE BOOM times
of the 1860s, tin miners from the
region around Cornwall, England,
came to Nevada County in droves to work
the rich hardrock gold mines. They were first
recruited for their expertise with the Cornish
Pump, which was needed to remove excess
water from the tunnels.
Among the many English traditions they
brought with them, one of the most
popular proved to be the Cornish pastie.
The pastie (pronounced pass-tee) is a filled
pastry crust made into a special type of
meat pie. Recipes varied, but most were
made with beef, along with combinations of
potatoes, onions and/or turnips and spices.
Pasties were made by placing the
uncooked filling on a flat pastry circle, and
folding it to wrap the filling, crimping the
edge to form a seal. The result was a raised
semicircular package with a thick crust along
the curving edge. This served as a handle
suitable for the dirty hands of the miners,
which oftentimes bore traces of arsenic from
their work. The crusts were disc arded in the
mines as tribute to the “knockers,” who
were thought to be capricious "spirits" of
the tunnels who needed to be appeased in

SANDY REMOLIF

MAKE LUNCH YOUR FAVORITE
PASTIE TIME

Marshall’s Pasties

St. Piran’s Day Goes to the Dogs
THE FRIENDLY RIVALRY BETWEEN Grass Valley and Nevada City has taken on a new form recently and
this one looks like it’s going to have staying power. Some attendees are begging for it. We’d better
explain – St. Piran was the patron saint of Cornish miners who worked local gold mines and the pastie is
the meat and veggie pie that was their traditional lunch. The idea arose to have teams from each city
compete in a pastie toss, with the pastie landing nearest the center of a cross on the ground being the
winner. The cross represents that of the Cornish flag and the toss is made from 50 feet away. But why do
dogs care? Well, no one wanted all those pasties going to waste so these are made with dog food centers
and dogs in attendance are invited to clean-up! Join us March 12, 2016 for the pastie Olympics, Cornish
flag raising, Cornish market and pastie making contest. For further information, contact the Grass Valley
Downtown Association. [phone]. historicgrassvalley.com

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