Pie and mash is as integral to British dining and life as fish and chips is. Now there's a campaign to make this tasty dish one of the most protected dishes in the UK ,
New contributor, Londoner Demi Perera ,a writer for Lonely Planet wrote about this in today's New York Times Food Wednesday section.Pie and mash is a beloved dish from London's gritty East end. It was a Cockney favorite for years having being created in the mid Nineteenth century for dockworkers who craved a warm meal at lunch time.it also had to be cheap to fit in with their low wages as well. Pie men first appeared here selling ones stuffed with eels from Dutch ships.Minced meat fillings replaced the fish and a side of mashed potatoes was added. The first pie shop was opened by Henry Blanchard in 1844 in the London borough of Southwark, situated on the Thames south bank. This is where all the dockworkers and porters plied their trade. The dish has remained the same 180 years later. There is still handmade minced beef pie with a scrape if mashed potato. As in 1844 there is parsley sauce on top of this, called liquor.It was originally made with water leftover from boiling eels, thickened with flour and then seasoned with salt and pepper. Now there is even a vegan version for vegetarians.
Again this is as dear to the Brits ,especially the Cockneys who have left the city and now all live in nearby Essex (this has become the pie and mash capital of England).Unfortunately thanks to a diverse and vibrant multiculture the dish is on the brink of extinction. Pie shop owners across the country want to give the dish " traditional specialty guaranteed: status.However fifteen producers must decide on a single recipe to support what's known as the TSG application. some, like Cheryl Arment, owner of Arment's Pie and mash were afraid they'd have to divulge family secrets. Her family recipe and store have been around since 1914.She couldn't;t let light in on the magic.Luckily shop owners agreed on a standardized recipe for mincemeat which seemed to satisfy the requirements. It was either that or if the dish's name had been in production for thirty years. This suits the East End piemen just fine.Many feel that the status is long in coming. Another piemen Andy green 's campaign for to even gained traction in Parliament when Conservative Richard Holden secured formal discussion of the issue in Parliament to draw political support.
Pie and mash is as English as fish and chips and Devon cream tea. It has fed millions of Brits for decades. It should be elevated in British history and British life.
Posts
