What’s a Cornish pasty? The secret to this Morris family business' 100-year legacy

For a century, Tom Rodkewitz's little family restaurant in Wharton has specialized in the little, hearty pockets known as Cornish pasties .

The pasty − a handheld pie typically filled with meat, potatoes and vegetables − originated as a delicacy for British royalty in the 13th century but established its true identity as workingman's meal for English miners in the 1700s.

Rodkewitz's family has served the humble, handmade dishes with the family's own eastern European touches since arriving in Morris County about 100 years ago. Their shop, Rocky's Pasties , long ago became a local institution. It celebrated its centennial on Friday in a ceremony with local and county officials, fans and regular customers.

Rodkewitz − his father is the titular "Rocky" − attributes the store's success to his parents and grandparents' adoption of a dish preferred by workers in the local iron mines that still operated in Morris County into the early 20th century.

"Pasties came early on because the Cornish miners from Cornwall, England, immigrated here to work the mines and introduced the recipe to my grandparents," he said in an interview Friday. His grandparents arrived from Ukraine and Poland through Ellis Island, he explained, and when they saw the opportunity to start a business, they went for it.

Rocky's began as an "old timey convenience store," selling everything from fruit and meats to hardware. Over the course of 100 years, its menu has changed, now including side dishes including Polish kielbasa, Hungarian stuffed cabbage and kolaches.

But its authenticity has remained a constant: The store operates out of the same location at 47 Robert St., and its pasty recipe remains loyal to that prized by the Cornish immigrants.

"We continue to make our delicious self-contained meals the old fashioned way," Rocky's says on its website. "They're prepared daily from scratch, using market fresh vegetables, angus ground beef, and our own unique crust."

After opening in 1924, Rocky's became popular with students from the Wharton Elementary School next door. Since the school lacked its own cafeteria, kids would run across the yard to grab a bite to eat at lunchtime.

"They would come through the back door, and my grandmother would make hamburgers, hot dogs, pasties, french fries, etc.," Rodkewitz said. "This was back in the 30s, 40s, and 50s, before the school shut down and the regional school was built."

After the school closed, other local industries left as well. Without the usual customers from school or work, Rocky's faced challenges throughout the 1960s and '70s.

"Pasties was always the mainstay because it was that little nichey thing, so that is what kept us going in the hard times," Rodkewitz said.

Through the financial hardships, Rocky's remained generous to its neighbors, he said. His father "had a heart of gold," Rodkewitz said.

"Even though we didn't have a whole lot to eat, he'd bring groceries to folks who were doing worse and leave them at the doorstep at night and walk away and not say anything."

Years later, customers would come into the store and remember what he did for them, but Rodkewitz said his dad still would not let them repay him.

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Tom Rodkewitz, now 68, began working full-time in the mid-1980s. Although his parents never pressured him, he gravitated to the family business. Rocky's "needed a renovation, and I was young and motivated, so I hopped into it."

Years later, Rodkewitz is the store's front man − and celebrating 100 years of family commitment. "I try to live up to my dad's legacy," he said. "But it's hard, he was such a guy."

Now, Rodkewitz and his son Brandon work together to keep the legacy alive, one pasty at a time.

"Our countertops are about 40 years old now, and my dad used to slide stuff back and forth, and we still do," he said. "I was thinking about replacing them, but one customer came in and said, 'This counter has so many memories.' So maybe we will keep the tradition."

Email: NFlanagan@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: What’s a Cornish pasty? The secret to this Morris family business' 100-year legacy