Pie and mash
Encyclopedia
History
Pie, mash and stewed eels shops have been in London since the 19th century and are still common in south and east London, in many parts of EssexEssex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
and in places abroad, particularly Australia (see pie floater
Pie floater
A pie floater is a meal available in Australia, particularly South Australia which consists of the traditional Australian style meat pie sitting, usually inverted, in a plate of thick green pea soup. It is typically covered with tomato sauce and, although subject to the taste of the individual...
) - where there are significant expatriate
Expatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
communities.
Composition
The main dish sold is pie and mash — a minced beef and cold water pastry piePie
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients....
and mashed potato
Mashed potato
Mashed potato is made by mashing freshly boiled potatoes with a ricer, fork, potato masher, food mill, or whipping them with a hand beater. Dehydrated and frozen mashed potatoes are available in many places...
. It is common for the mashed potato to be spread around one side of the plate and for a type of parsley sauce
Parsley sauce
Parsley sauce is a green sauce seasoned with parsley.It is essentially a simple béchamel sauce containing chopped parsley. A variant called "liquor" is often served with pie and mash as a traditional British food, particularly in London.Notes:...
to be present. This is commonly called eel liquor sauce or liquor (although it is non-alcoholic) because it is traditionally made using the water kept from the preparation of the stewed eels. The sauce traditionally has a green colour, which is not from food colouring, but from the parsley.
Shops
Traditionally pie and mash shops have white tile walls, with marble floors, tables and work tops, which are easy to clean and give a VictorianVictorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
appearance.
Side dishes
Jellied eelsJellied eels
Jellied eels is a traditional English dish that originated in the 18th century, primarily in London's East End. The dish consists of chopped eels boiled in a spiced stock that is allowed to cool and set, forming a jelly...
are another London speciality often sold in pie and mash shops. Chili-vinegar (vinegar containing pickled chilies) is also traditionally served with both of these dishes.
The pies, mashed potato and stewed eels are all prepared on the premises. Jellied eels are usually bought ready prepared.
Recently some pie and mash shops have started to offer a selection of pies. including vegetarian, chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
and fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
.
Further reading
- Pie 'n' Mash - A Guide to Londoners Traditional Eating Houses (1995), ISBN 0-9527067-0-9
- Eels, Pie and Mash - A Photographic Record of Pie 'n' Eel Shops (1995), ISBN 0-904818-60-8