Pasties and Yoopers: What Makes Northern Michigan Unique

I always thought pasties were an intimate item of clothing certain women wore, including strippers. So you can imagine my surprise when my wife and I were traveling recently in Northern Michigan and kept coming across signs advertising pasties for sale. The stores selling them didn’t appear to be adult novelty stores either.

We loved vacationing for the first time this summer in beautiful Northern Michigan. Also referred to as the Top of Michigan, this scenic region includes both inland waterways and hundreds of miles of coastline along two of the Great Lakes — Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Popular tourist destinations in Northern Michigan include Harbor Springs, Petoskey, Charlevoix, Traverse City, Torch Lake, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Mackinaw City, and St. Ignace. Perhaps the best-known destination in Northern Michigan is elegant and remote Mackinac Island. 

They say one of the benefits of traveling is that it expands your horizons. Our time spent in Northern Michigan at the least definitely expanded our vocabulary. That includes learning about the different uses for the word pasties. We’re both Southerners, so we were only vaguely familiar with some of the regional vocabulary and food differences we encountered in Michigan.

Some regional differences we knew about ahead of time. Northerners call soda drinks “pop.”  In the South, we just ask for a Coke, regardless of whether we want a Coca-Cola or Pepsi, or we request a soft drink. We also knew not to ask for grits when ordering breakfast. That’s too bad, because Northerners don’t now what they’re missing. 

Just for fun, I asked a waitress at one restaurant if they served sweet tea (I already knew the answer would be no) and she just made a funny face. 

Michigan Pasties

So back to our curiosity about all the shops selling pasties. We wondered if Michiganders are maybe more kinky than the rest of us or if there was something more to this pasties thing. We had to find out for ourselves, so we visited a pasties store.

As we soon discovered, pasties here in Northern Michigan refer to a breaded meat pie, somewhat akin to a popular dish down South that we call chicken pot pie. They also resemble calzones. Pasties have origins back to Cornwall, England, but in the U.S they are particularly popular in parts of Michigan. Some believe they were brought over by early English settlers who came to the Upper Peninsula (UP) portion of Michigan. 

While the spelling is the same as for the other type of pasty, the pronunciation is different. Northern Michigan’s edible pasties have a soft “a” pronunciation.

Pasties come in many varieties, but all of them have a breaded shell. Most pasties have beef or other meats plus seasoning and root vegetables including onions, potatoes, and sometimes rutabaga or carrots. They are designed to be a handheld meal, although they are also eaten with a fork. 

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to try a Michigan pastie because both of us have gluten sensitivities and avoid wheat. I’m sure there are pastie shops in Michigan that sell gluten-free versions, but not the shop where we stopped. 

Learning About Yoopers

Another interesting (and new to us) word that that caught our attention while traveling in Northern Michigan was the word “Yooper.” We saw many roadside signs advertising Yooper sandwiches and Yooper burgers. These seem to be quite popular throughout Northern Michigan.

The word Yooper refers to natives or residents of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The word is a slang term that is derived from referring to people from the UP as “UP’ers”. Try saying it a few times, maybe with a “Y” sound on the front end, and you’ll see how the term “Yoopers” came about. 

Michigan’s UP isn’t just a separate land mass bordering Canada. The UP has its own unique heritage, foods, and dialect. It was originally settled by immigrants from the Scandinavian countries, especially Finland, and to a lesser extent, settlers from England. The dialect of the English language still spoken by some residents on the UP reflects this Scandinavian heritage. Not that everyone in the UP speaks with a dialect, but you just might run across folks who say things like “yah” for “yes,” “dat” for “that,” or who end most every sentence with the word “eh.” 

Interestingly, Yoopers somewhat derisively refer to those living in Lower Michigan as Trolls, meaning they live under the Mackinac bridge that separates the UP from the rest of the state. 

Yoopers have influenced popular foods in Michigan, including the pasties described above. As for Yooper sandwiches and burgers, there’s no clear definition of exactly what defines them. Many seem to include bacon and cheese as well as the main meat, along with onions and sauerkraut.

You Put Olives Where?

Another interesting Michigan food is the olive burger. We saw these on many restaurant menus. I tried one and it’s actually quite good. The traditional olive burger recipe is simple: ground beef, a white hamburger bun, and sliced pitted green olives. Like most foods, different restaurants may have their own variations of this formula. It is believed the olive burger originated in Michigan back in the 1960s. 

Visiting North Michigan 

Torch Lake in Northern Michigan has water as blue and clear as the Caribbean.

Michigan is a popular state to visit. It is especially well known for its outdoor amenities and natural beauty. We loved our stay in Northern Michigan and hope to visit it again someday. For a couple of Southerners, it was especially nice to get a break from the oppressive summer heat down South. Northern Michigan’s summer climate is mild and wonderful.

While I’m having a bit of fun in this column with these unique “Michigan-isms,” it’s a great state to add to your travel bucket list. We enjoyed the coastal cities along Little Traverse Bay, with their stunning views of Lake Michigan, charming small downtowns, historic waterfront homes and hotels, and sandy lake beaches. Car-free Mackinac Island can make for a pleasant day trip, romantic weekend getaway, or a much-longer visit. All of Michigan, and especially Northern Michigan, has an abundance of hiking and bike trails and other assets for enjoying the outdoors.

To learn more about tourism opportunities in Michigan, visit the state’s website at https://www.michigan.org.

After just one visit, we’re fans of Northern Michigan. You just may be too.