Pie and mash is a traditional British dish that originated in the 19th century, consisting of mashed potatoes and a meat pie with eel filling. As eel became less available and the taste changed, the popularity declined, but the dish still survives with mutton and other meats. The dish is served with eel liqueur sauce and eaten with a fork and spoon. Many shops still serve the dish and maintain the original furniture and floor plans.
Pie and mash is traditional British cuisine that arose in the 19th century. It consists mostly of mashed potatoes with a meat pie on the side. At the heart is a liquid sauce called liqueur made from parsley and the water left over from boiling the eels. The dish was originally cheap working-class food. As the availability of eels decreased and the taste changed, the popularity of the pie and mash declined until many of the shops that sold it were closed.
One of the main parts of pie and mash is the cake. It is nothing but minced meat that is packaged, wrapped in puff pastry and cooked. In the early 19th century, there were large numbers of eels available on the Thames. As a cheap and plentiful source of food, the pies were originally stuffed with eel and sold as street food to the working class. The pastry allowed them to be held and eaten as they walked.
Once the Thames began to become polluted, eels became less abundant as their population declined. The peddlers who sold the pies were having difficulty obtaining fresh eels and began using eels that had been dead for a while, causing the food poisoning associated with their wares. At the same time, indoor shops started opening and offered more sanitary conditions in which to both prepare food and eat it.
The cafe owners offered the same cakes at the same cheap prices, along with the cooked eels. The stores also provided the opportunity for customers to sit and eat instead of walking around with their food. They would fill the pies with mutton and other meats to circumvent the eel shortage. As an added incentive to please customers, a side of mashed potatoes was served as an inexpensive base. The dish became known as pie and mash.
The tradition of offering cooked eel or jelly in the same shop as the pie and mash has continued. Eel liqueur sauce, which is non-alcoholic despite its name, has become an integral part of the classic recipe. Even as the number of shops declined, the dish continued to be served in sufficient numbers to keep dozens of shops open.
The story of the pie and the mash has brought with it many traditions, some of which don’t have a ready explanation. While not everyone follows all traditions, some still do. The dish is served with the cake on one side of the plate and the mash on the other, with the liqueur in the centre. It is eaten with a fork and spoon, not a knife. The stores also tend to keep the original furniture, accessories, and floor plans.
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