Pie and Mash | The history of London pie mash and liquor (2024)

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Pie and Mash | The history of London pie mash and liquor? ›

Traditionally a working-class food, the pastry crust protected workers' transportable meals from the dirt and grime of historic London. The pie would typically be filled with minced beef, served with mashed potato and a parsley sauce known as liquor.

This is commonly called "liquor sauce" or simply "liquor" (liquor as in a liquid in which something has been steeped or cooked), traditionally made using the water kept from the preparation of the stewed eels. However, many shops no longer use stewed eel water in their parsley liquor.

Eels were one of the few fish that could live in the polluted Thames, beef being far too expensive. Latterly, the pies were made from scraps of beef and vegetables, leftovers or from the local markets, under a pastry crust. The mashed potatoes were liberally covered in parsley gravy or “liquor”.

Names such as Manze, Robins and Kelly were ubiquitous. At its peak, the Cooke family, which first opened a shop on Brick Lane in 1862, had about 12 branches. There are now 41 pie and mash shops in London, according to Mike Goldwater of the Pie and Mash Club.

The traditional way to eat pie and mash is to cover your beef pie and mash with liquor and a liberal amount of salt and also vinegar. Many pie shops now offer chilli vinegar (vinegar containing pickled chillies) to give your pie and mash a bit of spice.

The liquor used to be made with fish stock, as vendors sold jellies eels as well, but these days is sometimes made with chicken stock — it's basically a parsley sauce, again, made throughout the UK for centuries.

After the sugars are coaxed out of the grains, we must cool the mash down to a point where yeast will be able to thrive. Fermentation occurs when yeast consumes sugar, and in turn creates alcohol. There are thousands of complex esters and aromas created during fermentation as well.

Pie and mash is London's original fast-food. It's a traditional British meal, popularised in the eastern docklands area of the capital during the Victorian era. Traditionally a working-class food, the pastry crust protected workers' transportable meals from the dirt and grime of historic London.

It consists of a minced-beef filling (historically, leftover scraps of meat and vegetables) baked in a pastry crust and served with mashed potatoes and a thin green parsley sauce called liquor (which actually contains no alcohol).

The liquor part is a sort of parsley sauce. Pie and mash can be served with processed peas, in which case the liquid that comes in the tin of peas would also be added to the liquor. I'm sure different places make their sauce differently but the basis is always parsley sauce.

What is the oldest pie and mash shop? ›

Manze, the Manze's branch in Tower Bridge is the oldest surviving pie and mash shop, having opened in 1892. The first shop on record was on Southwark's Union Street, opened in 1844.

Pie and mash is a co*ckney comfort food found in East London and most pie and mash shops are based there so it was a surprise to discover co*ckneys of Croydon right here in the Cronx serving it all with jellied eels as well. For those who know will know but for those who don't, think of pies with mash and green gravy.

But where does ultra-famous millionaire Beckham go for his pie and mash? Humble Tony's in Waltham Cross, where a pie, mash and liquor costs just £4.30. That's right, you can eat like David Beckham for just £4.30 - so that's exactly what I did. Tony's is a proper pie shop.

Shepherd's pie

Britain's most-cooked pie at home, and a perennial classic. This pie made with lamb mince (a pie made with beef mince is a cottage pie!) and topped with mashed potato is a comfort food classic and beloved dinner of families everywhere. Try our recipe for Shepherd's Pie.

We call most meat and vegetables or fruit that's cooked in a pastry case a pie, although we do have some exceptions such as the cornish pasty, the sausage roll, and the apple tart, which are defined more by their shape than content.

Of course the choice of wine will depend on the pie filling and whether you're catering for a simple mid-week supper or a dinner party, but you can't go wrong with spicy Rhônes, sweetly flavoured Spanish reds from tempranillo or garnacha or gutsy reds from Italy's south.

It's a mixture of seawater and the oyster's own juices, which give it a unique and delicious flavor. Oyster liquor is naturally salty, and its flavor profile can vary depending on the type of oyster and the environment it was harvested from.

Liquor is a traditional English sauce that's typically served with pie and mash. Although there are many variations, the sauce is usually made with a combination of chopped parsley leaves, chicken stock, butter, flour or cornflour, and (often) roasted and puréed garlic cloves.

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