Jellied eels, parsley sauce, pie, mash?

Yeah agreed. Pie mash and liquor is fab, personally my fave is G Kelly's "down the Roman", as my family would say, though Robin's is a decent chain if you're elsewhere

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cymruaj@reddit

No one outside a square quarter mile of London eats that shit

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wakou2@reddit

I live in Essex. There are Pie and Mash shops in most towns. Two in my town, Cooke's and Robin's. Robin's opened relatively recently! (During the pandemic, IIRC)

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ThrowRA-Illuminate27@reddit

Based on that, I think we live in the same town, and AFAIK Cooke's closed down last year. Robin's is still going strong though

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cymruaj@reddit

Pie and mash is fair enough, can get that in most pubs and cafes, was more the jellied eels and liquor I was referring to

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NortonBurns@reddit

i've lived in London 35 years. I'm about 400 yards from a shop that sells pie & mash (not sure about the eels) and have yet to be persuaded to try it.

The liquor is supposed to be made with eel stock, which you couldn't pay me to try. If it were just parsley, I would.

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ThrowRA-Illuminate27@reddit

It's just parsley and it's fab, give it a go

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The liquor is made with chicken or vegetable stock these days. It can be made with fish stock; no different to eel stock. The differences in taste are negligible. It was only ever about using what was available, and eels were once a common food.

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Rubyrocke2024@reddit

It's not anymore, the eel stock stopped years ago.

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WinkyNurdo@reddit

I love pie and mash and liquor. I grew up Essex / East London so there were a few shops around us. Ignore the fuckwits hating it. It’s working class fast food. It won’t win awards but it fills you up. And it won’t break the bank either. Pie and mash shops are busy, bustling, old style cafes with no bells and whistles and usually a character or two doing the serving.

The pies are basic, but freshly cooked that morning; mince beef and onion. Mash is often served up in a scoop — it isn’t luxurious buttery mash. The liquor is effectively a parsley roux, it isn’t overpowering. Jellied eels are an acquired taste, but fishy, bit salty. There’s no law that says you must eat them. Just get your pie and mash and liquor. We add loads of vinegar over the mash and pies — or chilli vinegar for pro’s — and lashings of black pepper.

Accept it for what it is, and enjoy. If you want more refined options, go elsewhere.

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ignatiusjreillyXM@reddit

Spot on. It's really one of the things I miss most since moving away from the Essex/East London disputed territories!

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WinkyNurdo@reddit

And they really are disputed! I grew up near Romford in the late 70s / 80s and didn’t realise it wasn’t technically Essex until much later. Most shops and buildings still had Essex in their livery and addresses.

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ThrowRA-Illuminate27@reddit

I grew up in a village about 15 mins from Romford and our address is still "Romford, Essex" whenever I have to find it anywhere official ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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BareTheBear66@reddit (OP)

Haha fair. Sounds up my alley honestly.

We got some not so prize winning dishes too over here, bit will fill ya up and tastes great. Shit on a shingle for one. Which... is mostly just a thick cornbeef gravy on some buttered toast. Have it some mornings still.

Gonna have to give it a try when I can. Thanks for the input!

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Dennyisthepisslord@reddit

It's an extremely regional dish and mostly died off. I suspect it's tourists keeping it going to a degree. Never seen it in the wild myself. It's a traditional east end of London dish and you have to go there to find it.

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LaidBackLeopard@reddit

I used to live near a pie and mash shop in Orpington. Looks like it's still going strong. And there aren't many tourists in Orpington!

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PastorParcel@reddit

Pie and mash, yes, but did it serve liquor?

You can get pie and mash anywhere, but outside of the M25 you're only getting gravy.

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ThrowRA-Illuminate27@reddit

They're colloquially called "pie mash shops", it's kind of implied there will be liquor. Otherwise it's just a "pie shop"

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LaidBackLeopard@reddit

I believe it does indeed.

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Polythene_pams_bag@reddit

There’s a pie mash shop down in Shepherd’s Bush and there was one down portobello road that’s not long gone! Cockneys down the Bella was the best and I’d go down weekly when I lived there growing up now I only get the bush pie mash on football days when the husband can be arsed to go down to the loft

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ignatiusjreillyXM@reddit

Leyton Orient do moderately decent pie and mash and liquor in their ground should the Rs ever get to play them

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Polythene_pams_bag@reddit

Can’t see him bringing me pie mash back from there to the other side of west London 😂 he hates getting a single bus from the bush with it

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ignatiusjreillyXM@reddit

Nah absolutely not. There are loads of pie and mash places in the towns Cockneys moved out of London to - loads and loads in parts of south Essex -;and not a tourist in sight.

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Stephen_Dann@reddit

Work close to Manze on Tower Bridge road. Go there about once a month for lunch. Mostly locals and regular there.

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farraigemeansthesea@reddit

I have seen it in Sainsbury's. Am from the Home Counties.

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jbkb1972@reddit

It is no way dying off, I moved from south London to Manchester and I still order it from manze, my son and his girlfriend who are only 19 also love it.

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Pleasant-Put5305@reddit

Or any seaside town will yield the components, if not the complete dish. Brighton and Margate especially.

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kh250b1@reddit

Only really found in parts of north london like Tottenham and Harringey

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JimDixon@reddit

There is a little booth on Brighton Pier with a sign advertising jellied eels, but it's always been closed whenever I've been there. Maybe the booth and the sign are just there for nostalgia's sake. I'd try jellied eels if I had the chance.

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Free_Clerk223@reddit

The "uk"

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StillJustJones@reddit

Provincial working class dad here.

Going against the grain of a lot of commenters, I really LOVE traditional London style pie’n’mash.

(I’ve never been keen on eels and give them a swerve though)

But when I get into central London from the provinces (I go at least 2 x a year for hospital appointments) I’ll make time to get over to Greenwich to go to Goddard’s. It’s been a family owned place for 135 years and pretty much still does the same recipe that my great grandfather ate.

I’ll tend to oscillate between liquor and gravy…. I like both equally. But as well as sauce, chilli vinegar and loads of white pepper, I’ll admit I love my pies with lashings of nostalgia….. I love the traditional vibes and atmosphere as well as the fact that unlike others in this thread claim (I’ll bet not one of them has ever been to a traditional pie’n’mash shop), it isn’t ’gentrified’ one iota.

It’s good, hearty, filling, cheap, working class grub that hasn’t changed in over 135 years.

Every time I go in the place is rammed (when you can have a home cooked meal and a cuppa for less than a Big Mac meal - I’m not surprised!).

Yes… there’s tourists (where in central London doesn’t have tourists?!) but the place is also popular with locals and aging mockneys down to the big smoke for the day.

It’s really good grub!

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Double-Use4816@reddit

Yeah Goddards is amazing. Followed by a walk around Greenwich Park. My mouth is watering now!

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bertrum666@reddit

Provincial dad? Play the jingle.

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StillJustJones@reddit

Of course I registered the warranty dear….

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Double-Use4816@reddit

Youll only find it in London, I've never tried jellies eels but have eaten pie mash and liquor loads. The liquor is quite a mild parsley sauce, not overly savoury, a little creamy I guess. It's perfect if the pie is tasty and the mash smooth. Def not a tourist only thing, i still enjoy it.

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hopping32@reddit

This is not standard uk food. You can get it within probably a square mile in London. Fuck me I'm not eating that.

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Fred_Blogs_2020@reddit

There’s an annual eel festival in Ely, Cambs every year. That was my once and only experience of jellied eels. The taste wasn’t that bad but the texture isn’t for me.

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PootMcGroot@reddit

I've never seen jellied eels outside of fancy boutique markets being ironic, and tourist hotspots in London where Americans will challenge each other.

I'm sure you can get them in some "normal" places (like traditional markets) but I doubt 1 in 10,000 British people has ever even tried them.

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SnooDonuts6494@reddit

Sainsbury's often has 'em.

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caiaphas8@reddit

Never seen them in any Sainsbury’s

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Toc13s@reddit

Seen them in Asda a few times. Not sure how popular they were

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Monday0987@reddit

The eels are full of bones so I think the jelly is produced by the eels being cooked, I don't think it's added gelatin. I don't care for them, I didn't find them unpleasant just bony. I've only seen them served chilled.

The pie and mash shops used to sell a lot of stewed eels and mash. The liquor used to be made from the liquor produced by cooking the eels with a heap of parsley. I don't think the liquor today contains eels.

I really like pie, mash and liquor. The pies are sort of steamed. I don't think the liquor has a lot of flavour but there is always huge bottles of vinegar and I chuck that all over it.

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CryptographerSoft215@reddit

In the North East of England the equivalent is pie and peas. That's flaky pastry holding chunks of meat and gravy, alongside a generous portion of mushy peas.

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AgingLolita@reddit

I've never seen this in real life. Seems specific to touristy places in London

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ignatiusjreillyXM@reddit

I'm from east London, and while a few places near Central London may be aimed at tourists, most pie and mash places are very unassuming and unpretentious, often great value for money too. There are probably more p&m places in South Essex (and possibly North Kent, although I've not seen so many there) than in London now though - so much of the old Cockney population has moved out and taken their food with them.

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RiverTadpolez@reddit

I wouldn't know, because like 99.9% of the UK I've never had the opportunity to try it, as it's only sold in a few places in the East End of London.

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WinkyNurdo@reddit

There are pie and mash shops in most Home Counties. I’m now on the Kent coast and there’s a few around here.

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RiverTadpolez@reddit

I'm Scottish so I'm ignorant of your English cultural heritage, sorry.

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farraigemeansthesea@reddit

Seconded. You used to get pie and mash even at the Bluewater food court.

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Beetrooterg@reddit

I have pies and liquor delivered to Cornwall by Manzes. 😋

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PastorParcel@reddit

As a Brit I have never eaten those dishes - and they are not sold in most of the UK. They are not 'British food' in the sense that the whole nation eats them, but simply in the sense that they exist in our nation.

I would say the closest merican equivalent might be 'grits'. Are they American food? Yes. Would most Americans have eaten them or even expect to see them on the menu? No.

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pineapplewin@reddit

US equivalent might be rocky mountain oysters.

Very niche, specific to a region, odd food item, slightly chewy, best with lots of sauce ......

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nemmalur@reddit

Good comparison. Grits aren’t easy to find outside the South, but Rocky Mountain oysters are very local to a specific region.

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AlfMisterGeneral@reddit

Get a pie and mash with liquor if you’re in London yeah. You will not enjoy jellied eels if you are not used to them. If you get them, eat the eel and not the jelly. I would advise to get stewed eels with the pie and mash if they offer it, that way they are hot and not in jelly, and actually quite nice. Definitely get the liquor, it looks like snot but does 100% genuinely taste lovely.

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nemmalur@reddit

What’s the texture of stewed eels like? I’ve only ever had them barbecued or smoked.

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AlfMisterGeneral@reddit

They are tough and meaty. They are nice hot in the liquor. In the jelly, not so much

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BareTheBear66@reddit (OP)

I was never really a fan of anything in jelly, but Stewed doesnt sound half bad. The rest just sounds amazing and ill definitely have to give it a try whenever I get the chance!

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Bambi_H@reddit

Yeah, eels themselves are delicious, especially smoked eels. The jelly ... not so much.

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TwentyOneClimates@reddit

Pie and mash you'll find everywhere. Jellied eels you'll be hard pushed to come across, maybe some specific places in East London.

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IanAmp@reddit

I tried jellied eels once. It’s a spitting food. Revolting.

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YchYFi@reddit

Eaten nowhere apart from South East London. It's very niche and gross food.

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YchYFi@reddit

Eaten nowhere apart from South East London.

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wakou2@reddit

Nonsense, see my post above.

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YchYFi@reddit

There is no post.

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anabsentfriend@reddit

It's the tyoe of thing that sent me vegan.

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PepsiFloateri@reddit

I love seafood but Jellied Eels are just plain gross. Pie and Mash is just bland and boring. Why go for that when we have so many more options these days?

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BareTheBear66@reddit (OP)

Ive had plenty other, and excellent roasts. its just the trend ive been seeing more of recently and yknow. Curiosity struck and im a big foodie of all types/cultures.

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PepsiFloateri@reddit

Fair! I just think "Traditional British" food is boring as fuck,even though I've lived here all my life

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Fibro-Mite@reddit

I hate savoury jelly/aspic, I even peel it out of pork pies (I love pork pies, hate the aspic) and can't stand the "liquor". My mum and dad loved jellied eels and all that stuff and used to buy it whenever they had the chance. And tried to force me and my sister to like it - we never did. For me it's a whole texture vs taste expectation issue. I love fruit jelly (as long as nobody has been silly enough to add pieces of fruit to it) but just can't stand savoury versions.

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BG3restart@reddit

I think it's fair to say that most British people have never eaten jellied eels or had parsley sauce with pie and mash. It's very much a London thing. The only time we ever had parsley sauce, it was with fish.

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MartinUK_Mendip@reddit

Eels are currently the most lucratively smuggled animal and the most smuggled animal from Europe to the Far East. And alongside that:

"Since the 1980s the European eel population has declined by up to 98% across all life stages. The species is now listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species"
Source: Canal and River Trust

No-one should be eating eels in Europe.

Since 2009 it has been illegal to retain any eels caught in the UK except from Lough Neagh near Belfast, although even their populations has also drastically collapsed. Or they are coming from illegal fishing.

Fun facts about eels:
- They only produce their sex organs in salt water on their final journey to the Sargasso Sea to mate. This meant that they were considered hermaphrodites until the late 19th century.
- They also stop eating then.
- No-one has seen eels mate. They do not mate in captivity.
- The Sargasso Sea is reckoned the breeding site for all European and North American eels as that's where the smallest tiny baby protozoa-like eels have been found. There's a similar low-currant, doldrum-ish area in the Pacific for East Asian eels.
- Their blood is poisonous. They can also spit their blood when threatened.

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BareTheBear66@reddit (OP)

!! Crazy knowledge, thank you for the insight. The more you know.

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WestPreference7745@reddit

Had to eat pie and mash when I was young and poor. And only chance of hot food ,had nowhere to cook. Even then it was utter crap.

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Rubyrocke2024@reddit

I grew up in the east end of London, most markets had a pie and mash shop. I loved pie, mash and liquor, my Dad loved jellied eels, I can still remember him putting a portion into his mouth, sucking the flesh off the bone and then taking the bone out and putting it on the side of his plate, totally gross . Also, the pie and mash shop we used, had an eel stall outside, trays of live eels, which people would choose from, then the man would chop it into small bits, which would all continual wiggling. As a small child it was fascinating.

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Loose_Perception_409@reddit

Never seen it in real life, only in old movies about east end gangsters

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imsittingdown@reddit

It is not a common thing at all. Lived in the UK for over 30 years and had never really heard of it until being swamped with it on social media of the last 2-3 years.

I think it gets shared a lot because it's something non UK people can circlejerk about British food=bad.

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BareTheBear66@reddit (OP)

Lmfao, fair. Im a big foodie, never got the British food hate honestly. A lot of it looks great. I got a curious stomach and social media taunts me sometimes.

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imsittingdown@reddit

The jellied eels sound gross to me but I'm sure the pie and mash is fine but nothing spectacular. I don't think there's a big uptick in British people eating this stuff, it's just shared a lot now because it looks gross and drives engagement.

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hallerz87@reddit

Chop up fresh water eels, boil them in a spiced stock and the collagen in the eel sets into a gelatinous jelly when cooled. Serve with chili and malt vinegar. If you like eel and the jelly texture, then you'll probably enjoy them. Pie and liquor is a traditional meal from east London. Very niche, eaten by old school Londoners or curious tourists. Neither meal is in any way representative of modern, English eating habits.

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GoldenAmmonite@reddit

I'm not a Cockney, so never tried it.

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MiddleElevator96@reddit

It's absolutely fucking minging.

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This-Disk1212@reddit

I had jellied eels in a polystyrene cup in Essex.

Horrible.

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BareTheBear66@reddit (OP)

Haha noted! I was never a super big fan of jellied things, and consensus is that they arent the best it seems.

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SnooDonuts6494@reddit

Meaty, slightly fishy and salty.

You can avoid eating the jelly if you don't like it.. but it doesn't taste of anything much. Maybe a bit like mild fish soup. But that jelly texture puts some people off.

The liquor also tastes like fish soup, with a slightly herby flavour too.

It's definitely savoury. Sometimes it can have a slight sweetness to it too.

I think a lot of people are just put off by the looks of it - it is rather grey and looks like a plateful of slugs. But it's nice.

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RazzmatazzFit2723@reddit

I think eels are now considered under threat, that would be enough to put me off

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YorkieN@reddit

I’m an avid fish lover and tried it when I lived in London. The mash and the liquor were lovely, the eel was the worst fish I have ever tasted, greasy in a bad way, dense, tough and an odd earthy taste. Can not recommend it. But if eel is your thang, you may love it!

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