Pie and mash

Ingredients

Filling

• 600 gminced beef
• 1onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbspplain flour
• 400 mlbeef stock
• 1 tbspWorcestershire sauce
• salt and plenty of white pepper

Suet pastry base

• 250 gplain flour
• 125 gbeef suet
• ½ tspsalt
• cold water

Shortcrust lid

• 200 gplain flour
• 100 gcold butter or lard
• a pinch of salt
• cold water

Mash

• 1 kgfloury potatoes
• 60 gbutter
• 100 mlmilk
• salt and white pepper

Liquor

• 40 gbutter
• 40 gplain flour
• 600 mleel stock, or vegetable stock
• 1very large bunch parsley
• 1 tbspmalt vinegar
• salt and white pepper

To serve

• malt vinegar
• chilli vinegar

Directions

1. Make the filling first: brown the mince hard in a dry pan until it is well coloured. Brown it properly rather than stewing it grey, because there is very little else in the filling.
2. Add the onion and cook until soft, then stir in the flour and cook it 2 minutes. Add the stock and Worcestershire sauce and simmer 20 minutes until thick. Season it hard with salt and a great deal of white pepper. Cool the filling completely before it goes into pastry.
3. Rub the suet into the flour and salt and bind with cold water into a firm dough for the base. Suet pastry lines the tin because it is sturdy and holds the wet filling without going soggy.
4. Make a separate shortcrust for the lid by rubbing the cold butter into the flour and binding with water. Wrap both pastries and chill them for an hour. Line individual oval or rectangular tins with the suet pastry, pressing it up the sides.
5. Fill with the cold mince, then top with a shortcrust lid and press the edges together. Trim the edges and make a small hole in the centre of each lid. Bake at 200°C (390°F) for 30 to 35 minutes until the lid is golden.
6. Season the mash with white pepper as well, keeping it plain and quite firm. Now the liquor, which is a parsley sauce and should be genuinely green. Melt the butter, stir in the flour and cook 2 minutes without colouring. Add the stock gradually, whisking, and cook until it thickens.
7. Chop the parsley very finely, using a very large bunch, far more than seems sensible. The liquor should be strongly green and taste clearly of parsley. Add the parsley at the end and cook it only a minute or two. Add it late, because parsley boiled for long goes drab and loses its flavour.
8. Finish with the vinegar and season with salt and white pepper. Serve the pie on the plate with a wedge of mash beside it and the liquor poured over both.

Technique

• The chilli vinegar is a shop staple: whole chillies steeped in vinegar for weeks.
• The pies are deliberately plain and highly peppered rather than richly seasoned.
• Jellied eels are sold at the same counter and are the other half of the trade.

Substitutions

• All shortcrust, if suet is unavailable, though the base will be less sturdy.
• Vegetable stock in place of eel stock.

Variations

• With two pies, which is the standard order.
• Vegetarian, with a lentil or mushroom filling.
• Served with jellied or stewed eels alongside.

History

A working-class London trade since the nineteenth century, sold in tiled eel-and-pie shops in the East End.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pie and mash?

Pie and mash is a street food from United Kingdom: minced beef pie with mashed potato and green parsley liquor. A working-class London trade since the nineteenth century, sold in tiled eel-and-pie shops in the East End.

How long does Pie and mash take to make?

Pie and mash takes 1 hr plus 1 hr chilling of preparation and 1 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Pie and mash?

Yes, within limits. All shortcrust, if suet is unavailable, though the base will be less sturdy. Vegetable stock in place of eel stock.

What is the most important thing to get right in Pie and mash?

Make the filling first: brown the mince hard in a dry pan until it is well coloured. Brown it properly rather than stewing it grey, because there is very little else in the filling.