View source for Pie and mash

{{Short description|Traditional British food}}
{{for-multi|the place|Eel Pie Island|the recording studio|Eel Pie Studios}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox food
| name               = Pie and mash
| name_lang          = English
| name_italics       = 
| image              = Goddards pie mash and liquor.jpg
| image_upright      = 
| image_alt          = 
| caption            = A typical serving of pie and mash with liquor and eels
| alternative_name   = Pie, mash and [[Parsley sauce|liquor]]
| type               = 
| course             = [[Main course]], [[snack]]
| place_of_origin    = [[England]]
| region             = [[London]]
| associated_cuisine = [[English cuisine]]
| creator            = 
| year               = 
| mintime            = 
| maxtime            = 
| served             = Hot
| main_ingredient    = [[Shortcrust pastry]], [[minced meat]], [[mashed potatoes]], [[parsley sauce]]
| minor_ingredient   = 
| variations         = 
| serving_size       = 
| calories           = 
| calories_ref       = 
| protein            = 
| fat                = 
| carbohydrate       = 
| glycemic_index     = 
| similar_dish       = 
| cookbook           = 
| commons            = 
| other              = 
| no_recipes         = 
}}

'''Pie and mash''' is a traditional working-class food, originating in the [[London Docklands|Docks of London]].  The dish has been popularised as "a [[Cockney]] classic". It typically consists of a minced beef pie, mashed potato, and a [[parsley sauce]] known as liquor. Pie, mash and eel shops have been in London since the 19th century, and are still common in East and South London, and in many parts of [[Kent]] and [[Essex]].

==History==
During the [[Victorian era]], industrial air pollution tended to be worse in the east and southeast of London because of the prevailing westerly wind, with the result that the East End was settled more by the working classes, while the western part of the city was home to higher social classes.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bosworth|first1=George F.|title=West London|url=https://archive.org/details/westlondon00boswuoft|date=1912|oclc=6566071|page=[https://archive.org/details/westlondon00boswuoft/page/77 77]|publisher=Cambridge University Press|chapter=Climate and rainfall}}</ref>

Pie and mash originated in the early 1800s, when extensive docks first opened in East London. Dock workers needed an inexpensive, warm meal, and pie men began serving eel pies from carts and market stalls.<ref name=perera /> The eels typically came from Dutch fishing boats.<ref name=perera /> Minced meat trimmings later replaced jellied eel.<ref name=perera />

The first known pie-and-mash shop was Henry Blanchard, located in [[Southwark]]. It opened in 1844. It is this establishment which added mashed potato to the meat pie.<ref name=perera /> Other early shops<ref name=perera /> are Robins, established in 1926,<ref>{{cite web|last1=King|first1=Mel|last2=Twigger|first2=Will|title=The Essex border pie and mash shop that's been run by the same family for 5 generations|website=EssexLive|date=22 July 2024|accessdate=2 June 2025|url=https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/essex-border-pie-mash-shop-9427125}}</ref> and [[M.Manze]], which opened in [[Bermondsey]] in 1892.<ref name=mackay>{{cite news|last=Mackay|first=Mairi|title=Reach for the pies: London's original fast food|work=CNN|date=1 April 2015|accessdate=2 June 2025|url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/culinary-journeys-london-pie-and-mash}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Russell|first=Herbie|title=Old-school Deptford pie and mash shop gets historical recognition|work=Southwark News|date=23 December 2023|accessdate=2 June 2025|url=https://southwarknews.co.uk/area/deptford/old-school-deptford-pie-and-mash-shop-gets-historical-recognition/}}</ref>

During [[World War II]], government food rationing threatened pie and mash shops with closure. However, due to public demand the Ministry of Food was persuaded to allow these traditional eateries to remain open. As a result, pie and mash supplemented family rations amid the widespread national food shortages and along with [[fish and chips]], that other traditional British working-class dish, pie and mash increased in popularity among middle-class families too.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-03-14 |title=The History of Manze's Pie & Mash |url=https://www.southlondonclub.co.uk/blog/the-history-of-manzes-pie-and-mash |access-date=2023-05-19 |website=South London Club |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The history of fish and chips: a timeline |url=https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/history-fish-chips-timeline |access-date=2023-05-19 |website=www.rmg.co.uk |language=en}}</ref>

Since 2010, as revealed in a joint study by the [[Zoological Society of London]] and the [[Environment Agency]], the number of eels captured in research traps in the River Thames fell from 1,500 in 2005 to 50 in 2010,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8473965.stm|title=Eel populations in London's River Thames crash by 98%|publisher=[[BBC London]]|date=22 January 2010|access-date=30 December 2012}}</ref> meaning most eels used in pie and mash shops are now from the Netherlands and Northern Ireland.

While eel consumption continues to go down in the 21st century (in 2000, there was only one stall selling live eels in Billingsgate Market), the number of eel and pie shops has continued to go down: there were 87 eel and pie shops in Greater London in 1995, compared to around 110 at the end of 1800. In 2024 there are just 34 pie shops left. <ref name=schweid>{{cite journal |title=Consider the Eel |first=Richard |last=Schweid |journal=[[Gastronomica]] |volume=2 |issue=2 |year=2002 |pages=14–19 |doi=10.1525/gfc.2002.2.2.14 |jstor=10.1525/gfc.2002.2.2.14 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/gfc.2002.2.2.14|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":0" />

==Composition==
The main dish sold is pie and mash, a minced-beef and cold-water-pastry [[pie]] served with [[mashed potato]]. There should be two types of pastry used; the bottom or base should be suet pastry and the top can be rough puff or short. It is common for the mashed potato to be spread around one side of the plate. The meat pie and mashed potato are served atop a [[parsley sauce]]. Commonly called "liquor sauce" or simply "liquor" (liquor as in a liquid in which something has been steeped or cooked),<ref name=mackay /> it was traditionally made using the water kept from the preparation of the stewed eels, flour, salt, pepper, and chopped parsley.<ref name=perera>{{cite news|last=Perera|first=Demi|title=The Cockney Accent Is Fading, but This Dish Is Here to Stay|work=The New York Times|date=2 June  2025|accessdate=2 June 2025|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/02/dining/london-cockney-pie-mash.html}}</ref> However, many shops no longer use stewed eel water in their parsley liquor,<ref name=perera /> opting for chicken stock instead.<ref name=mackay />

Many pie and mash shops serve hot, stewed or cold, jellied eel as a side dish.<ref name=mackay /> [[Vinegar#Grains|Malt vinegar]] and [[chilli vinegar]] are typical condiments used with the dish.<ref name=perera /><ref name=mackay />

==Shops==
Before shops became common, trading took place from [[brazier]]s or carts. It was not until late Victorian times that shops began to appear.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Henry|first1=Mayhew|title=London Labour and the London Poor: A Cyclopaedia of the Condition and Earnings of Those that Will Work, Those that Cannot Work, and Those that Will Not Work, Part 1|date=1851|publisher=George Woodfall and Son|location=London|pages=195–196|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pmZRAAAAMAAJ&dq=pie&pg=PA195|access-date=28 November 2016}}</ref> The shops became part of the local community and heritage of their area; for example, L. Manze in Walthamstow became Grade II listed by English Heritage in 2013 due to its architectural and cultural significance.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=L Manze Eel, Pie and Mash Shop|num=1416834|access-date=28 November 2016}}</ref>

Traditionally, pie and mash shops have large open windows, long marble-topped tables, and tiled walls.<ref name=perera /> Originally, the floor was wood covered in sawdust; removal of the sawdust made for easy cleaning.<ref name=perera /><ref name=mackay /> Today, floors are tiled.<ref name=perera /> Pie and mash is served with a fork and spoon, almost never with a knife.<ref name=mackay />

Because of the large number of pleasure boat steamer companies offering Sunday trips on the River Thames, many Eastenders used them to explore the more gentrified west of London. The result was that many also wanted their traditional foods of ale and pie and mash, resulting in the renaming of both a hotel that they frequently visited and the island on which it sat in [[Twickenham]] to [[Eel Pie Island]] in the early 1900s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=213|title=Eel Pie Island|publisher=Twickenham Museum|access-date=30 December 2012}}</ref>
{{Gallery
|title=Pie and mash shops on [[Deptford High Street]]
|width=160 | height=170 |noborder=yes
|align=center
|footer=
|File:Manze's pie shop. (5888862656).jpg
 |alt1=
|File:A J Goddard, Deptford High Street, SE8 - geograph.org.uk - 1498668.jpg
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}}

== 21st-century decline and current prospect ==
With the [[gentrification]] of South and East London as well as the docklands area, there have been significant socio-economic and demographic changes in the London neighbourhoods traditionally most associated with pie and mash.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gentrification across London {{!}} London's Poverty Profile |url=https://trustforlondon.org.uk/data/gentrification-across-london/ |access-date=2023-05-19 |website=Trust for London |language=en}}</ref> Through the 2020s, industry experts continue to note that affluent new locals are now more interested in "lattes and paninis" than a dish typically associated with working-class Londoners.<ref>{{Cite web |title='They just want lattes and paninis now' Legendary East End pie and mash shop to move out due to gentrification |url=https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/traditional-pie-mash-and-eel-shop-leaving-east-end-as-new-locals-just-want-latte/ |access-date=2023-05-19 |website=LBC |language=en}}</ref> As a result of the declining customer base, historic and famous pie and mash shops including L. Manze in Walthamstow have been forced to close and their premises taken over by new incumbents.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Coghlan |first=Adam |date=2022-03-18 |title=Walthamstow's Iconic Pie and Mash Shop L. Manze Has Permanently Closed |url=https://london.eater.com/2022/3/18/22981229/l-manze-walthamstow-closing-pie-and-mash-london |access-date=2023-05-19 |website=Eater London |language=en}}</ref> In May 2023, for example, the iconic [[Listed building|Grade II]] listed [[Art Deco|art-deco]] building at 9 Broadway Market in [[Hackney, London|Hackney]], which had been home to F. Cooke's pie and mash shop for the previous 120 years, was taken over by [[Cubitts]], a company that designs and handcrafts bespoke [[Glasses|eyewear]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bottomley |first=Tom |date=2023-05-17 |title=In Pictures: Cubitts new East London store in old eel, pie and mash shop |url=https://www.theindustry.fashion/in-pictures-cubitts-new-east-london-store-in-old-eel-pie-and-mash-shop/ |access-date=2023-05-19 |website=TheIndustry.fashion |language=en-GB}}</ref> W.J. Arments Eel & Pie House at Walworth, founded in 1914, with its glazed tiled walls, marble table tops, opening sash windows and a floor covered with sawdust, is one of the few shops to have thrived in the changing socio-economic climate.<ref>{{cite web |title=W J Arments Story |url=https://armentspieandmash.com/our-story/ |website=Arments Pie & Eel Shop |access-date=21 March 2024}}</ref>

Proposals have been raised in the [[British Parliament]] to declare a [[Traditional speciality guaranteed]] (TSG) label for the dish.<ref>{{cite web |title=A UK lawmaker wants protected status for classic Cockney dish pie and mash |url=https://apnews.com/article/pie-mash-cockney-cuisine-protected-status-943e9af187a8a1d0390db27d0634f003 |website=Associated Press |access-date=23 October 2024}}</ref> In February 2025, 15 producers settled on a standard recipe of minced beef in flaky pastry with liquor and mash to support the TSG application.<ref name=perera />

==References==
{{reflist}}
==See also==
*[[Fish and chips]]
*[[Pie shop]]

==Further reading==
*Clunn, Chris (1995) ''Eels, Pie and Mash: A Photographic Record of Pie 'n' Eel Shops.'' London: Museum of London. {{ISBN|0-904818-60-8}}
*Pie 'n' Mash Club of Great Britain (1995) ''Pie 'n' Mash: A Guide to Londoners Traditional Eating Houses.'' J. Smith. {{ISBN|0-9527067-0-9}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}

*[http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/features/7721/London-s_best_pie_and_mash.html 2009 review of the best Pie & Mash shops] by ''[[Time Out (company)|Time Out]]''
*[http://spitalfieldslife.com/2011/03/31/favourite-pie-mash-shops-part-one/ 2011 SpitalfieldsLife.com review of favourite Pie & Mash shops]

{{eel topics}}
{{English cuisine}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pie And Mash}}
[[Category:English cuisine]]
[[Category:Restaurants by type]]
[[Category:Ground meat]]
[[Category:Working-class culture in England]]
[[Category:Street food in the United Kingdom]]