Fish & Pasties

Today, 12:00 AM

Fish

With Lake Huron to the east, the Straits of Mackinac to the south, and Lake Michigan to the west, it should come as no surprise that fishing has been central to life in St. Ignace for generations. And with several locally owned and operated fisheries in town, you are guaranteed all the fresh fish you can eat! Local favorites include perch, walleye, and trout, but what the area is famous for is Great Lakes whitefish. You will find it on nearly every menu in town, prepared using the traditional methods of grilling, frying, or baking, as well as those that incorporate nouvelle cuisine. Keep your eyes open, and you may even find whitefish livers on the menu, a prized delicacy.

Another seasonal favorite is smelt; a relatively small, silvery fish closely related to the trout. It returns to Great Lakes streams and tributaries to spawn in April. During the spring smelt run, anglers in hip waders stand at the mouths of rivers and streams with their nets and scoop up hundreds of smelt at a time as the slippery, slender fishes make their push upstream to spawn. The fish’s mild flavor and white flesh makes it a much sought-after menu item in local restaurants and around dining room tables.

Pasties

The Upper Peninsula is known for pasties (pass-tees) – a traditional meat pie filled with a mixture of ground beef, diced potatoes, onion, and rutabaga. The mixture is encased in a half-moonshaped buttery, flaky crust and baked until it’s golden brown. Pasties are served alone or, depending on your preference, may be eaten with ketchup or gravy.

Immigrant copper miners from Cornwall, England, brought pasties to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in the early 1800s. The meat pies were portable and made for a quick lunch when working 12-hour shifts in the mines. Pasties were wrapped in newspapers or towels and would stay relatively warm in the miners’ lunch buckets or pockets, or miners would place them on a shovel and heat them over a fire. When Finnish immigrants arrived to work in the mines, they adopted their co-workers’ meat pie lunches, adding carrots to the recipe.

There are several pastie shops in the St. Ignace area that sell hot, ready-to-eat pies or frozen pasties that you may take home and bake in your own oven. You will also find pasties in local restaurants.

Everyone locally has their favorite – Which will be yours?

Lehto’s Pasties

Famous for beef, chicken, and veggie pastie options, this St. Ignace pastie shop has two locations ready to serve you!

1983 W US-2, St. Ignace – Beef Only
626 N. State Street, St. Ignace – All Varieties

Sposito’s Pasties

Home of the “original” cherry pie pastie.

W1228 US Highway 2, St. Ignace

A Taste of the Upper Peninsula

Attached to the Zodiac Party Store, this pastie shop operates year-around. This is the pastie shop internet sensations Josh & Jase visited when they were in Michigan! Make sure to try yours with RayRay’s Yooper Hot Sauce, made right here in St. Ignace!