Road Food: Pasties
I love business travel. I enjoy checking into a hotel room, unpacking my things, which always include a good book, bubble bath and the other acouterments of pampering, and a local newspaper.
My husband says he enjoys it, too.
“There are no demands on your time,” he says. “At home, you feel as if you should be doing something constructive.”
Once I am checked into a hotel room, I am usually not interested in leaving. I relax almost immediately and want to get further acclimated to my temporary environment. But I do leave, mainly to search for a local deli. I seldom eat alone in restaurants, and I do not like take-out food.
In Marquette, Mich., there are some very nice locally owned sandwich shops and delis. But the other night, strapped for time and weary from a long drive, I opted for a local supermarket, expecting to find the usual selection of rotisserie chicken, cole slaw, potato salad and baked beans.
Instead - being in Yooper country - I found pasties, those meat-and-potato stuffed pastry pockets that Cornish workers took into the iron mines with them. They are a staple here, where the mines have long dominated the local economy.
My husband, having Cornish genes, loves them. I find them a bit too carb laden. But after more than three hours of driving on an empty stomach, a pasty looked pretty darned good.
(By the way, that’s a soft A, not a long one. Paa-stee, not pay-stee. The two uses are not interchangeable, either.)
I bought a pasty, adding some cheese and nuts, and enjoying an apple (courtesy of a friend at the Italian market back home) for dessert.
As pasties go, it was not the best or the worst I’ve eaten. Doesn’t really matter. I was ravenous, and it was hearty and satisfying.
What I was really tasting here was a night of freedom. I missed my husband, but had a long phone conversation with my sister-in-law, a warm bubble bath and a good book to sooteh my road weariness.
When you travel, what do you do? Eat out? Splurge? Choose takeout? I’m curious. My new job will involve more travel, and I may just broaden my horizons at mealtime, too.
I'll be on the road again Monday.
Comments
I guess I'm so eccentric that I enjoy being alone in my room. Peaceful moments are all too rare!
I travel a lot for work and I always check out Chowhound for recommendations before I leave. I try to have a list of a couple of places to try while I'm there and then ask for ideas from my local contacts.
Marquette is at its best this time of year!
A sidenote: I have not spent more than a few hours there in 10 years. On my last overnight visit, I foiund the town a bit down on its luck, with many businesses closed and buildings empty. This time, I was delighted to find just the opposite, with the beautiful old waterfront developed and the behemoth ore dock still in place. I love that city!
And I also love pasties! And I love the way you "settle" into your new environment...much the same as I do when I travel.
I do not mind doing most things alone, but eating alone, unless it's a very casual place, somehow gets to me. I guess because I associate food with socializing. So while I like to splurge, too, I am probably not as adventurous as I could be. I do agree with you, Erika, about trying new things when i travel. Somehow that pasty the other night called out to me.
Terri, I have been know to bring candles with me, even wine glasses and a small bottle. I have learned to bring a small travel pillow, as I prefer flat pillows to those big hotel pillows that give me a still neck.
I like the idea of getting in some walking or hiking while on the road. The last time I visited Marquette on business, I did get a nice walk in. If you like old buildings and houses and hills, this is your city!
Although I like travel, my favorite business trip was with my husband. I had a three-day meeting in Myrtle Beach, SC, and he came along, rented a car and explored while I was in meetings and workshops. Then at night, he took me to the cool places he'd found during the day. Once the conference was over, we drove up the coast in North Carolina. We ate "Calabash" seafood and enjoyed a variety of interesting restaurants.
I usually get bakery type food when I'm on the move, hot meat pies, pastries, sandwiches.
I don't care to eat alone in restaurants either, I much prefer the solitude of my own hotel room if I have to eat away from home alone.
Frieda, if I recall, 1992 was a cold one!
Violette, that's what I like to do, too!