“To get to the real meat of us as islanders, Britons, and Londoners, why not start there, with something as simple and as iconic as a shop selling the Londoner’s meal of pie, mash and eels?”
Melanie McGrath
Introduction
It started as a poor man’s repast. A hearty plate of several pies, a steaming pile of mash, covered in a gleaming green parsley liquor and washed down with a big mug of tea. These temples of cuisine, the humble pie and mash shop, sprang up across East, South and West London. It is a community meeting point where people from all walks of life gather to have their favourite meal and put the world to rights. People travelled far and wide to go to the Roman Road or the oldest pie-and-mash shop in London, M.Manze, in Tower Hill, which opened in 1902 with shops in Peckham and Sutton. Jellied eels and a liberal amount of salt and vinegar often accompany this cockney classic.
First emerging in the mid-1800s, these food palaces were cheap and cheerful. By the 1930s, there were as many as 150 shops across London. The fragrant smell of flaky lids, suet-enriched pastry bottoms, and simple mashed potato and liquor wafted through the air like the old Bisto advert. The gleaming green and white tiles, marble surfaces and dark wood pew seating. Wonders like Harringtons, Tooting, Maureen’s, Poplar, G. Kelly, Roman Road, Robin’s, Chingford, Castle’s, Camden, F. Cooke, Hoxton, B.J’s Pie and Mash, Barking and Tony’s Pie & Mash shop in Waltham Abbey, a favourite of David Beckham and a shop that dates back to the late 19th century. A bargain meal for £5.50.
A National Institution
Today, only about 40 pie-and-mash shops across London are diminished by high business costs and edged out by the major retailers—a tragedy for something so special and loved by the young and old. Like the trucker’s cafe, this is a delightful little part of history and a meal that makes you smile. These beacons of cuisine need to be preserved and fought for. They can not be allowed to completely disappear because if left to do so, a slice of history would evaporate. This issue has been debated in the House of Commons, and calls have been made to preserve this treasure in legislation. This needs to happen before more shops close. Viva the pie and mash shop, and long may it remain!
