How gold mining in the Sacramento Valley influenced today’s food.
“There’s gold in the them thar hills of California!” were the words that echoed around the world in 1848, igniting a mass migration to inland California. When thousands of men from around the world descended upon the Sacramento Valley, they came hungry for the precious metal that they believed would make them rich. The long, arduous days of often fruitless work created in the men a strong appetite, but little food was available in the early days of settlement in this otherwise undeveloped area of the country.
“The women that came out with the men wrote in journals that they’d do anything for a vegetable,” shares city of Sacramento Historian Marcia Eymann. “They ate a lot of dried foods — dried beef, fruit, and what was available on the land, like rabbit and deer.” When word got out — perhaps erroneously — that gold was plentiful and easily mined, men from all reaches of the globe swarmed the area. In 1849, the population more than tripled, according to California State Parks. By 1852, nearly 250,000 prospectors were living in this pocket of California. “It was a such a cultural mix of people,” says Eymann. “Many brought their cultural foods with them, like Chinese was a big influence. Food fusion began to happen. They’d take their traditional recipes and use whatever ingredients they had here.”
Cornish settlers in Placerville brought with them traditions of hand pies — or pasties, as they’re called — which would be stuffed with a meaty stew-like filling. “Miners would take pies as lunch for when they were mining,” says Savory Pies of the World Owner Kaitlyn Keyt. “They made a braided crust that they could hold because their hands were in dirt touching harmful mining toxins that would contaminate their food. So they’d hold the braid and eat the pie, then throw the braid down the mine.”
At Savory Pies of the World, the fusion of cultures illustrated by Eymann is on full display. “Naturally, the locals of each country would alter the pie to contain their own local ingredients. Like-wise, we have a Japanese pie that’s savory with a creamy, green vegetable curry inside. We have a Russian beef stroganoff, an Italian pizza style pie with marinara and meatballs, and a French brie with Black Forest ham and rosemary,” explains Keyt.
Chef Kat Howard shapes pie recipes around creative ideas and feedback from customers, meaning the menu is ever-changing. “We even have a hippie pie that has marinated Portobella mushrooms,” shares Keyt. “They’re made fresh daily, and we prepare about 100 or more pies each day.” Keyt also runs Enchanted Forest, the Irish-themed restaurant next door. She says many of her repeat customers who enjoy both the pasties and the Ireland-styled eatery are Irish ex-pats who enjoy feeling a sense of home. “They always tell me it reminds them of being back in Ireland,” Keyt says proudly.”
Finding a bit of home brought comfort to long ago miners who worked tirelessly in rough conditions, far from family and the lives they left behind. Surrounded by other men, Eymann says, many of the miners clamored to the few restaurants operated by women. “Men really wanted a home cooked meal by women,” says Eymann, cheekily. “One woman and her husband tried out mining for a few months but then decided to open a restaurant. It was very popular because it offered fresh milk, which was rare.”
As time went on, efforts to establish consistent food sources ramped up. Eymann explains that many failed prospectors turned to farming and ranching instead, leading to beef and dairy supplies. Oysters fished off the coast of San Francisco were hauled in, becoming a fast favorite among the mining community. Pies of beef and tomatoes remained a staple food, carried into the mines or enjoyed at home with seltzer waters. “Breweries were established quickly, by 1948,” says Eymann. “Soon, hard liquor like whiskey made its way to the river port. It was a lot lighter, making it easier to transport than the clay pots that beer was stored in.”
The California Gold Rush peaked in 1852, and by the end of the decade, it was over. However, many of these mining era foods and drinks, a tradition born of hard — physically and mentally — times, continue today in a more refined way. I’m 50 percent Irish, so the culture has always resonated with me,” says Keyt. “I’ve always felt connected with gold mining. I like that the hand pies bring historical context to the food.”
