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Monday: |
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7.30am to 3.00pm |
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Tuesday: |
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7.30am to 3.00pm |
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Wednesday: |
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7.30am to 3.00pm |
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Thursday: |
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7.30am to 3.00pm |
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Friday: |
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7.30am to 3.00pm |
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Saturday: |
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8.00am to 2.00pm |
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Sunday: |
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10.00am to 2.00pm |
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offers, and one-off special Pie 'n' Mash evenings!
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Pie 'n' Mash with Liquor has fond memories for many people, especially those from
London. It's a dish that takes people back to their childhood, when shops were all over
London. Those memories take you back to a more simple time, when there was a sense of real
community and camaraderie. The local Pie 'n' Mash shop was shared by all generations of
the family, and the chances of seeing your Granddad and his mates gathered in a booth
eating away when you entered with your mates were high.
Pie 'n' Mash is a traditional London working class feast, which is both tasty and cheap.
Since the first 'Eel Pie and Mash Houses', which were established in 18th Century, the
shops have always had a certain feel and decor, which many have still maintained to this
day.
Everybody fondly remembers their very own Pie 'n' Mash shop. Tiled walls (of various two
tone colours like green and white) and marbled top tables with either wooden benches or
wooden high back booths. If the general feel was the same though, the shops varied, as did
the method in how they served the Pie 'n' Mash! It's from our own local Pie 'n' Mash that
we individually grade the perfection that is associated with the memory. How the mash is
served, the taste, the texture and look of the liquor is just as important as the taste of
the pie! Even the crockery in which it is served can be so important to the memory -
always a shallow bowl instead of a plate!
London's River Thames and docks became the source for the origins of the 'Eel Pie and Mash
Houses'. Dickensian London was bustling with people and trade from all over the World.
Originally the pies were sold by peddlers on foot, and originally the fillings were mostly
of eels, because they were so abundant in the Thames. However,any leftovers found at the
markets, meat, vegetables and even fruit fillings were also used.
The pies offered a cheap and filling meal for the poor working classes of the areas of
London, especially the populace of the East End that depended on work and survival at the
London docks and the trade at the large London markets like Smithfield's, Spitalfield's
and Billingsgate.
When the 'Eel Pie and Mash Houses' opened, they offered a place to sit and eat, and with
the cheap pies it was served with mash, potatoes also being a cheap commodity. The gravy
(liquor) it has been said was of Dutch influence, and if so it probably came from the
sailors to whom the peddlers sold their pies on the streets of London, or by rowing their
boats across the Thames alongside their ships.
In the Houses, the eels became a speciality and sold as jellied or stewed, which would
become important in the making of the green liquor, as it is said that the previous day's
eel juices were not wasted but used in the making of the following days liquor. But
through the many decades right up to the present day, each individual shop has its own
secret recipe for the delicious green nectar. The colour of the liquor (gravy) due to the
parsley content.
In the present day, some have tried to 'up market' the dish by using other fillings for
the pie, but why mess with perfection? Anything other than the traditional is pulling it
away from what we love and remember! It's the same as it was two hundred years ago, apart
from the modern quality of the ingredients that we have today and the tinkering of the
recipe and method of delivery perfected over the decades.
A large portion of mash spread on one side of the shallow dish, the mash not being lumpy
at one extreme or creamy by the other, a minced beef filling (no onions or anything else)
within a pie that has a suet base and is topped with a short crust layer (degree of top
burned to the individual preference), then the pie placed along side the mash in the
shallow bowl.
Then have the green liquor gently ladled into the space provided by the pie and mash!
Using a spoon cut the pie to allow the liquor to mix with the beef filling!
Add vinegar or chilli vinegar to taste! Bon appetit!
The popularity of Pie 'n' Mash is unbounded. Even though there are not as many shops as
there once were they are still around. In London especially - the East End, South and
South East London, West London at Shepherd's Bush, Notting Hill, Sutton, Tooting and even
in Eastbourne. There is even a 'Pie 'n' Mash' Club that helps promote and savour the dish.Now
in Brighton & Hove, although not a Pie 'n' Mash shop but at least part of the menu for
The Diner. We hope to create a links page for people to find and try other shops, as this
is not competition but appreciation, and we hope other shops and chains see it the same
way to help promote this delicious old dish! |
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Did you know...
- Wikipedia states that Pie 'n' Mash has been highlighted in recent modern culture with a
mention in the Chas & Dave song 'That's What I Like', where they mention 'pie and mash
in liquor'.
- In the 'Only Fools and Horses' episode 'A Slow Bus To Chingford', Rodney, upon the
subject of Del Boy admiring art and being 'a Renaissance Man' states: 'Last week, down the
Pie and Eel Shop, Del shook the international art world to its very foundations by
stating, quite openly, that Michaelangelo was a wally-brain'.
- In the 1979 WHO film Quadrophenia, an early scene between Jimmy (Phil Daniels) and an
old schoolfriend, Kevin (Ray Winstone) that takes place in a Shepherd's Bush 'Pie and Mash
Shop'. This shop is Cookes, at 48 Goldhawk Road W12 8DH, London, the South End to
Shepherd's Bush market. At a guess, as some members of The Who are from the area, it was
probably used in the film due to them once regularly using it.
- In the Mighty Boosh episode 'Eels', after reminiscing about Naboo's second hand shop
previously being a 'Pie and Mash' shop run by 'Elsie Eel', an evil cockney sets terrifying
eels on Howard and demands protection money. It also features the lyrics 'It's a mash up!
Pie and mash up!' from the Eels song in the same episode.
- Steve Jones, guitarist of the infamous band 'The Sex Pistols', frequently pines for 'pie
and mash' on his lunchtime radio show, which is based in California USA, and is said to
devour great quantities of 'pie and mash' when he returns to good old blighty.
- One of the most famous sportsmen and fashion icons in the World cites his favourite food
as Pie 'n' Mash - David Beckham! A London boy born and bred, shame he never played for the
best team in London, even though his Granddad supported them! Curious? Anyway, don't let
anyone tell you that Pie 'n' Mash with liquor is bad for you - have you seen those photos?
It's obvious that what spinach will do for Popeye, Pie 'n' Mash will do for you - it'll
tune your body into being that of a fashion icon, a sex symbol and a World class
sportsman! All we have to do is win the World Cup and Pie 'n' Mash will be the reason why!
- Some people like to upturn their pie so the top crust is soaked in the delicious liquor!
If you haven't tried it yet, why not give it a go?
- Vinegar is always the favourite condiment for Pie 'n' Mash. Dash it on your mash, dash
it on your pie and dash it in your liquor - then cut your pie with a spoon and let the
juices of the pie mingle with the liquor! Where the liquor enters your pie, that is the
point of attack!
- Although ordinary vinegar is the favourite condiment for Pie 'n' Mash, some people like
chilli vinegar! Also a favourite with jellied and stewed eels!
- It may not have been seen by many, but it's been heard that some people may put tomato
sauce on their Pie 'n' Mash. The general census of opinion is that they are dirty buggers
and heathens that should be burnt at the stake!
- Did you know that Pie 'n' Mash is rhyming slang for 'crash'? Then again you could use it
for 'cash'. Know any more? Let us know!
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