Traditional pie and mash ideas

What names leap out at you when you are asked to point out a signature dish from the British kitchen? A roast perhaps? There is one dish in particular that has gained not only a band of loyal followers but such a group of diehard enthusiasts that they formed their own club to celebrate the fact.

And that culinary delight is none other than one of London’s most famous dishes, pie and mash – not to mention the special gravy or “liquor” that accompanies it.  The aptly named Pie and Mash Club was established in 1994 and is still going strong today – indeed, its diary from September 2016 to May of next year includes an itinerary of visits to 13 of the East End’s best-loved pie shops.

Delivered to your door

Not everyone in the country, though, has the chance to visit a traditional pie shop in person. That’s no problem either, since it is possible to order your pie and mash online and have the dish delivered directly to your own front door by special courier service.

Pie and mash ideas

At home, you might not be able to re-create the fully-tiled charm of the East End pie shop, but there are still a number of ways you can sit down to enjoy the dish.

If you are buying online, the pies arrive ready to eat as soon as they arrive – just pop them in the oven or microwave and they’ll soon be done. Or keep them in the fridge for a few days and serve whenever you are ready. You can even keep some in the freezer, so that you are never without a tasty, traditional, handcrafted pie to hand.

Traditional pie and mash makes a tasty and wholesome snack at probably any time of the day – or night.

You might want to eat it at lunchtime – when the pie shops of East London probably saw their busiest opening times. Or you can really go to down by having it on your next dinner party menu. Pie, mash and liquor must go down as one of the most interestingly different and fun dishes you can serve to your guests – and its unique history gives you ready-made conversation pieces around the dinner table.

Mash ideas

The pie and liquor is likely to go down so well in fact, that you’ll have barely a scrap left over when it comes to the end of the meal. But online or mail order deliveries of pie and mash typically come in more than generous proportion, so that some of the mashed potato, at least, might be ready to keep for yet another day – since the BBC’s Good Food guide suggests that if there is one part of any meal likely to be left over in the dishing out of food, it is mashed potato.

The website describes – and contains links to the recipes for – at least 10 novel ways you might want to think about using up any leftover mashed potato. These range from the use of the mash as a topping for your own homemade savoury meat pies to the surprising use of potato in baking a lemon drizzle cake.