Christine Mason’s talk on ‘Fanny’ Nelson was cancelled at short notice due to the difficult driving conditions on her route. It was decided not to cancel the session; we could not guarantee to be able to contact everyone in time. I volunteered to take the session and gave members a choice of talks. The majority chose “Pie and Mash”. Terry Ereira
Jellied eels are a traditional East London dish originating in the 18th century. It consists of chopped eels boiled in a spiced stock that is allowed to cool and set, forming a jelly. It is usually served cold. They were one of very few fish that could survive in the polluted Thames and became a staple for London's poor.
In the Victorian era pies became popular street food. Several hundred pie men sold their wares from braziers or carts, particularly in east and south east London. The pies had different fillings including meat and fruit, but most commonly eels.
The first recorded shop was Henry Blanchard's in Southwark in 1844, described as an "Eel Pie House".
Traditionally, pie and mash shops have white tile walls with mirrors, marble tables and counters, marble floors (strewn with sawdust to gather up the eel bones that were spat out – the origin of “spit and sawdust”), all of which are easy to clean. They give the shops, never called restaurants or cafés, a late Victorian or Art Deco appearance.
Pie and mash shops became commonplace. They would also sell jellied eels, and usually had stalls outside selling live eels to be cooked at home. Gradually the offering was modernised. Minced beef became a more popular (and still affordable) pie filling than eels, while mashed potatoes gained popularity as an accompaniment.
The pie is made from two types of pastry; suet for the bottom and rough puff or short for the top. The mashed potato is usually spread around one side of the plate. And there is the liquor (a type of parsley sauce). This is traditionally made using the water from stewing the eels. Liquor is unique to pie and mash shops who all claim to have their own secret recipe. Many shops no longer use stewed eel water in their liquor. It is now made from fish stock, flour and parsley; fish stock cubes are cheaper! Everything is freshly made and cooked on the premises each day.
The traditional way to eat pie and mash is to cover the pie and mash with liquor and a liberal amount of salt and also vinegar. Many pie shops now offer chilli vinegar to give a bit of spice. It is eaten with a spoon and fork – no knife and no gravy!
There are two key families who have been particularly influential over the years: the Cookes and the Manzes:
Robert Cooke was born in 1841 in East London and went on to be one of London’s early entrepreneurs. At 21 (1862) he opened his first shop. This was the first time he traded under the F. Cooke brand seen today. He made his name selling stewed eels with mashed potato and liquor. In 1890 he opened a second shop and by 1892 he opened a third in what is now known as Tower Bridge Road. Robert’s sons opened their own shops. By 1939 the Cooke brothers had a total of five shops. Succeeding generations opened other shops, developing outlets into Essex. The family name has never altered and in every F. Cooke shop, there is a Cooke in charge.
The Manze family moved to London from Italy in 1878 and sold pies after failing in the ice-cream business. A daughter of the Cooke family married a son of the Manze family. This couple’s grandson runs the capital’s oldest existing pie and mash shop, M. Manze on Tower Bridge Road. It was purchased from the Cooke’s by their son-in-law, Michele Manze, in 1902. He opened a second shop in Bermondsey in 1908, two more in Poplar and another in Peckham in 1927. Several of Michele's brothers opened their own shops and by 1930 the family had a total of 14 shops. The shops have become 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. Unfortunately, it closed in 2022.
Other families of note
G. Kelly has been serving pie and mash in the same shop on Roman Road Market since 1937.
Goddards Pies in Greenwich is a new outlet for an old business - the family started in Deptford in 1890.
Arments opened their first pie and mash shop in Walworth in 1914, then two more in the area. Their shop on Westmoreland Road is the only one still open today.
Other shops of note: Leytonstone's Noted Eel and Pie House was established in Bow in 1926, but moved to Leytonstone in 1978.
Castle's Pie and Mash next to Camden Road station has been going since 1934 and is filled with regulars, not passing tourists.
Robins Pie and Mash, established 1929, straddle the London/Essex border with shops in Wanstead, Basildon, Chingford and Romford.
At various life stages I have eaten in Cooke’s in Hoxton, Leytonstone’s Eel and Pie House, Castle’s, Robins and Manze’s of Walthamstow and various other shops not mentioned above. All producing the same delicious offering.
End of an era: By the end of the 1930s, there were more than 150 eel, pie and mash shops in the city’s East End. At the end of the Second World War, there were around 100 in London. In 1995, there were 87. By 2020, there remained just over 20.
Terry Ereira
The next Guild meeting will be on Wednesday 12 February at 7.30 pm and is “Pantomime – a classic British tradition”.
Christine Mason’s talk has been rearranged for Thursday 13 March at 2 pm (note the change of day and time).