Pie and mash with parsley liquor
A meat pie, a generous scoop of mashed potato, all drowned in 'liquor', a green parsley sauce. Traditionally splashed with malt vinegar. London's fast food before fast food existed.
A meat pie, a generous scoop of mashed potato, all drowned in 'liquor', a green parsley sauce. Traditionally splashed with malt vinegar. London's fast food before fast food existed.
Pie & mash is London on a plate, the real London, the one from the neighbourhoods where I grew up. You go to the shop, white tiles, wooden benches, and you order: a pie, a ladle of mash, and the liquor on top — that green parsley sauce that doesn't look like much but makes everything. And above all, above all, a good splash of malt vinegar on it. Anyone who tells you otherwise has never set foot in an East End caff.
- •Beef pie — 1 per person (main item)
- •Potatoes — for good mash (side)
- •Fresh parsley — a large handful (liquor (green sauce))
- •Stock — for the sauce (liquor base)
- •Malt vinegar — at serving (signature acidity)
Pie and mash with parsley liquor
A meat pie, a generous scoop of mashed potato, all drowned in 'liquor', a green parsley sauce. Traditionally splashed with malt vinegar. London's fast food before fast food existed.
Why this dish? A historic speciality of north and east London — Parker's hometown (Islington). The 'pie & mash shop' is a London working-class institution, the street food of the neighbourhoods where he grew up.
Pie & mash is London on a plate, the real London, the one from the neighbourhoods where I grew up. You go to the shop, white tiles, wooden benches, and you order: a pie, a ladle of mash, and the liquor on top — that green parsley sauce that doesn't look like much but makes everything. And above all, above all, a good splash of malt vinegar on it. Anyone who tells you otherwise has never set foot in an East End caff.
Ingredients (period version)
- Beef pie — 1 per person (main item)
- Potatoes — for good mash (side)
- Fresh parsley — a large handful (liquor (green sauce))
- Stock — for the sauce (liquor base)
- Malt vinegar — at serving (signature acidity)
Ingredients
- Shortcrust + puff pastry — for 4 pies (casing)
- Minced or diced beef — 500 g (filling)
- Mashing potatoes — 800 g (mash)
- Flat-leaf parsley — 1 large bunch (liquor)
- Stock + a little flour — 400 ml (liquor binder)
- Malt vinegar — at table (signature acidity)
Method
- Prepare filling: brown beef with onion, moisten with stock, season and simmer until thickened.
- Line moulds with shortcrust pastry, fill with meat, cover with puff pastry and bake until golden.
- Make a smooth, buttery mashed potato.
- For the liquor: thicken stock with a little flour, stir in a large amount of finely chopped parsley, season — the sauce should be distinctly green.
- Plate: pie and mash side by side, coat with liquor, serve with malt vinegar on the side.
How it was made : 'Pie & mash shops' appeared in London in the 19th century, initially with eel pies, as eels were abundant and cheap in the Thames. The 'liquor' was originally the cooking juice of eels, thickened and coloured green with parsley. In the 20th century, beef pie took over, but the green sauce and malt vinegar remained unchanged.
The contemporary twist : A 'street-food' version served in a kraft tray, parsley liquor in a pipette, and mash piped from a piping bag: festival pie & mash.
Alan Parker · Charactorium