A Broadway Market branch opened in 1900, with Fred’s grandson Bob (who was born above the shop) at the helm. Cooke on Hoxton Street | Photo by Amanda Vincent-Rous from the Londonist Flickr poolįred Cooke opened his first pie, mash and eel shop in Clerkenwell in 1862, and before long ran a popular chain with branches across east London. In 1998 the business, now run by Michele’s grandsons, opened a final shop in Sutton, giving the family the unique claim at the time to opening both London’s oldest and newest traditional pie, mash and eel shop. Manze in Walthamstow which received listed status in 2013. Several of Michele's brothers followed his lead, opening up their own shops bearing the family name and by 1930 there were a total of 14 of them. Three were either destroyed or closed during the war but the original, his Peckham outlet, and a third on Sutton High Street remain open today. He opened a second shop on nearby Southwark Park Road in 1908, followed by two more in Poplar and yet another in Peckham in 1927. For Manze, this Tower Bridge site was the first of a mini pie empire. It was founded by Michele Manze, whose family moved to London from southern Italy in 1878, and began selling pies after dabbling less successfully in ice-cream and ice-cream makers. Manze, which opened on Tower Bridge Road in 1891. London’s oldest existing pie, mash and eel shop is M. Together they run London’s oldest existing pie and mash shops.
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While pie and mash shops at their height were as popular as burger restaurants or curry houses are now, there are two key families who have been particularly influential over the years: the Manzes and the Cookes. Manze on Southwark Park Road back in the day (we're not sure of the date). The water used for stewing them was flavoured with parsley to create eel liquor, a sauce which tends to be a lurid green colour and is served with the pies in place of gravy. Minced beef or lamb with onions became a more popular - and still affordable - pie filling than eels, while mashed potatoes quickly gained popularity as an accompaniment to bulk out the dish. It was in these shops that the offering was tweaked and modernised. The walls would usually be covered in paintings and later photographs, with floors strewn with sawdust to gather up the eel bones that were spat out. Inside there would be marble floors and counters - typical for the time, but unmistakably grand when viewed today. These shops would also sell the Cockney classic of jellied eels, and usually have stalls outside selling live eels to be cooked at home. It’s thought that the first shop opened in 1850 - though it isn’t named - and before long such pie 'n' mash outlets were commonplace.
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Gradually, pie and mash moved off the streets and into premises, giving birth to the ornate Victorian shops which we still see today.
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Manze's blue plaque | Photo by Matt From London from the Londonist Flickr pool Pie and mash shops And even more arrived from Europe into Billingsgate Fish Market, which started on the banks of the Thames (close to modern day Monument Station) in the 16th century. They were one of very few fish that could survive in the heavily-polluted Thames and other London rivers. They came with a number of different fillings including meat and fruit, but most commonly eels.Įels were particularly common (and thus cheap) in London at the time. Lacking the funds for premises, several hundred so-called piemen would walk the streets selling their wares, particularly in east and south-east London. Fast-forward to the Victorian era and pies became popular street food - there were no burgers or hot dogs back then.