One of the best parts of working on Minnesota Lunch was touring around parts of the state that we hadn’t spent much time in. The Iron Range — home to the absolutely delicious porketta and the hearty, versatile pasty, was a terrific trip. What follows are a series of photos (shot by Becca Dilley) from that trip.
Author James Norton (you can probably ID him) struggles to keep up with the church basement pasty squad at Wesley United Methodist in Hibbing, MN.
Porketta being made at Fraboni's, in Hibbing. It's a beautiful, low-tech, traditional process.
Fraboni's porketta is on the menu at Zimmy's in Hibbing. One of the best sandwiches of my life.
Author Aaron Brown ("Overburden") joined us for lunch at Zimmy's to talk about the Range.
Tom Forti from the Sunrise Deli in Hibbing. A font of local knowledge and good food.
Scene-setting sign from Pasties Plus in Grand Rapids, MN.
Homemade porketta served by Sue and Dennis Doeden in Bemidji, MN (here we've crossed out of the Range and into Lake Country.)
The Doedens introduced us to Turtle River Pasties, newfangled gourmet spins on the classic dish. Here's a breakfast pasty.
Here's the smoked beef briscuit that goes into the standard Turtle River pasty.
More buttery delicious pasties at Turtle River Pasties.
Pasties made the cut for the quilt at the Grace United Methodist church in Pequot Lakes.
