Pie and Mash - At Your Place

Time was ... when pie and mash meant a trip to the shop that was one of the hubs of London life. The shop in question was customarily decorated in a common style of orange, green and blue tiles and furnished with simple wooden benches against tables with marble tops. The short menu of dishes on offer (pie, mash, liquor and eels, jellied or stewed would often be all that there was) was usually chalked up on a board.

Though the number of pie and mash shops has grown rather than dwindled over time, it is now also possible to have such traditionally iconic dishes delivered to your very own door. This makes it a distinctly unusual and certainly different form of catering for any party, meeting or general get-together that you might be planning.

Time was ... when the pie you ordered was the only one that the shop served. To keep prices as low as possible, the cheapest cuts of meat went into the filling. In 18th and 19th century London, this meant plain minced mutton, without onion or any other ingredient.

Nowadays, the essence of tradition is preserved in the cheap price of the pies. But the customer has a far greater range of choice. Lamb is certainly still on the menu, but pies can now also be filled with minced beef or other meat and there are even varieties that cater for vegetarians.

Time was ... when the mash you were served came as just one scoop or two.

These days, you can not only choose just how much mashed potato is served with each pie, but in many cases even specify whether it should be creamed mashed potato or more lightly mashed. Potatoes still form an essential and nourishing part of the meal, though now you have a much greater say in just how you want them served.

Time was ... when any self-respecting establishment, not to mention its discerning patrons, would set perhaps greatest store by its "liquor". This had nothing to do with any alcoholic drinks they would serve, but all to do with the bright green liquid that would be poured over the meal. The recipe for any shop's liquor was a very closely guarded secret. The different liquors served from shop to shop were really very distinctive, each one having a taste of its own. This in itself was quite an achievement, given the relatively basic common ingredients used by most of the cooks - water, flour, a little butter, salt, pepper, vinegar and, finally, chopped fresh parsley to give the liquor its colour and taste.

These days - would you believe it - some customers appear to be slightly put off by the bilious bright green colour of the liquor. But times they have changed, too, and it is now possible to ask for a simple gravy to accompany your pie and mash.