I dreamed a dream of pies gone by...

As a kid back in 1980's East London, I would be looking forward to Saturday lunchtime with gusto. You see, I was fortunate enough to grow up a mere 5 minutes walk away from London's finest Pie & Mash shop. The Noted Eel & Pie House nestled on the corner of West St. and Leytonstone High Rd in a small area known locally as Harrow Green. 

Pie, Mash & Liquor

Now, I know that sweeping statement of mine might just raise eyebrows and stir controversy. Many will argue that it was Clarkes in Exmouth Market, Goddards in Greenwich, Kellys on The Roman Rd or Manzes, the oldest pie & mash shop in London. Don't get me wrong, I have tried ALL of these and they sure are fine examples of this old fashioned grub but.., but... I've been going to The Noted Eel & Pie House since as long as I can remember, knee high to a grasshopper. Imagine a short scruffy boy reaching up to the grey marble counter waving aloft old battered one pound note, "please miss, a single please". Then I'd take a seat at the MIND THE STEP tables hoping a bottle chilli vinegar was unoccupied as I was too shy to ask someone. I like a bit of pie & mash with my vinegar.

The real shame is that these small pieces of east end history are fast becoming extinct as our palletes demand a more diverse range of exotic flavours and spices. It's the green liquor I think. The silky parsley gravy that people seem to judge like the cover of a book. If I could leave a slogan on a wall it would read, 'Give pie & mash a chance!' It's not all bad news however as there are a few old school heroes out there still keeping this tradition going. Pie & Mash shops have been springing up in the suburbs some of which are extremely good. Lawson's in Wickford, Essex is one that I recently visited and not only was the food and atmosphere and décor reminiscent of my past, but it was also by far the best value I have seen for a long time. A double pie and triple mash to go with my vinegar was just what my hangover needed.

Whist I was eating I noticed a fine display of old photos and football memorabilia adorning the walls. There's even a signed shirt from another pie and mash fan from Leytonstone, David Beckham. A glance to right of this shirt was the chalkboard style prices list with a white hand written sticker...'Frozen pies'. Are you kidding me? I found my mind rushing with a hundred questions, You can get these pies frozen? They can't be as good as fresh can they? How will I cook them? I just had to find out so I bought the last few pies they had in stock and headed home eager to find out how the pies would come out. I don't have a special oven and I have no idea what temperature or how long to cook them or even if they cook from frozen. Last but not least, I'm stuffed and cannot eat any more pies! I put my new found treasure into the freezer and forgot about them.

My last experience of pie & mash frozen was from ASDA. They sold Robins frozen meal and it was awful. I'm not a fan of frozen/instant mash anyway because fresh is so easy to make. I could write an in depth review of Robins but I think I'll leave that for another day.

A few days later I was once again hit with what I can only describe as mind blowing cravings for pie and mash again. I get them every so often and have been known to travel on a 60 mile round trip just to satisfy them. Then I remembered, I have pies in the freezer! I grabbed the white plastic bag and to my surprise there was a pot of liquor also in the bag. Frozen liquor? I popped of the pot lid and staring back at me was an ice encrusted stone hard lump. I placed it back in the freezer and put a few of the tin lined minced beef pies on a baking tray and popped them in the oven. After about 20 minutes on 190C I began to think about what I was doing I realised that this is not going to work, these pies are already fully cooked and to reheat from frozen was going to need a lower heat, even more, I should have defrosted them really to bring the core back to a reasonably chilled temperature. I opened the oven door and there was the sorry sight of my ruined pies. Pies that had travelled with me and had promised so much. These were no longer pies, they were meaty biscuits. I ate them anyway and although crunchy and hard with no gravy left, they still had that original pie flavour. This could work I thought, this could work with a little preparation.


Whilst perusing eBay once I had noticed that there was someone selling the pie tins you the pies cooked in at the shop. Small oval shaped tins which house the thinner foil tin. I then began to think, are these a standard size? I even measured my frozen pies to check. Would these help in my quest to have east end pie and mash at home? I had to find out so I bought some. Once these tins were in my hands I immediately went and took the last few pies, together with the liquor out of the freezer and placed them in the fridge because tonight, was going to be THE night. All day at work I was thinking about how I was going to do this.

I got home, popped the pies into the new tins and into the oven on a low temperature. I then turned my attention to the liquor. It looked like one of the most unappetising things I have ever seen. I tipped it into the pan and it held shape! It just sat there looking at me like a slime green parsley blancmange. I attacked it with a whisk and some elbow grease. To begin it looked lumpy and horrible but it's a bit like making a sauce using a roux, the more you work it the better it gets. As the heat began to rise the sauce began to some together and eventually it resembled the liquor I know and love. As I tasted it I began to realise, yes you can. Yes you can make pie, mash & liquor from frozen and it loses very little of the flavour of being in the shop.

And just because I fancied it I also made my own chilli vinegar using a bottle of drivers malt vinegar and those little red dried chilli peppers. Go easy with them though, they can be spicy little fireballs and the longer they are in the vinegar the hotter it gets!

So there you have it, you CAN have that original east end pie and mash meal at home anywhere in the UK if your prepared to go out of your way to get it.