Pie and mash, a traditional Cockney dish, could soon gain protected status in the UK

A quick and cheap working class dish that is the promise of pie and mash, a traditional Cockney meal consisting of minced beef pie with mash potatoes on the side and topped with a parsley gravy .

“It was almost like the original nutritious fast food of its day for working-class Londoners,” said Richard Holden, Conservative MP for Basildon and Billericay. As it happens host Nil Kksal.

And the dish may soon get protected status as a distinct traditional food, thanks to Holden.

Holden led a debate in Parliament this week, calling for pie and mash (sometimes called tart and mash) to be given the Traditional Specialty label guaranteed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) . The designation would mean that only dishes prepared according to specific recipes or methods could be labeled as Cockney “pie 'n' mash”. These labels are reinforced by periodic checks to ensure that manufacturers are following the rules.

The goal is to celebrate the dish and its history, Holden says. He adds that while other countries such as France and Italy have around 800 protected dishes, the UK has fewer than 100 with this designation.

“We really need to highlight some of these culinary traditions that we have in the UK and talk about them wherever we can, especially those that have a special history,” Holden said.

Other British specialties with the Traditional Specialty Guarantee label include Gloucestershire Old Spots pork and Bramley apple pie.

Tart Roots and Mash

The first recorded physical pie shop started in 1844. The pies were made in advance, making them easy to take on the go, according to Holden.

The original pie and mash recipes were made with eel rather than minced meat, a staple for working class people since the River Thames was full of eels at the time, according to Holden . Stores turned to ground meat when the river became too polluted to support eels during the Industrial Revolution, Holden says.

Although pie and mash are still often served with stewed or jellied eels, Holden says the inclusion of eels will not be part of the protected status. “I’m not going to try to force-feed jellied eels,” Holden said.

More than a meal

Cheryl Arment, co-owner of Arment's Pie & Mash House, supports protected status.

“I think it’s excellent,” Arment says. “It’s so much a part of our heritage and sort of woven into our fabric that I think it would be nice to give it national status.”

Arment's has been around since 1914, and while its location has changed over the years, the business has remained in the Arment family.

At his shop, Arment says it's not uncommon to see four generations of family members sitting around a table sharing a meal, or old friends meeting for lunch and reconnecting with the place where they grew up around a traditional dish.

“We feel like we're the caretakers of the pie and mash shop rather than the owners,” Arment says of his store, which, like many other bakeries, is something of a community hub in the neighborhood. “And food is just a part of that, it’s part of (Londoners’) memories, their childhood and their daily lives.”

Protected status versus original recipes?

Although Arment favors the statute, she remains cautious about how it will be implemented. Protected status requires some standardization of a dish's recipe or ingredients, which could cause problems if the rules about what to call a pie and mash are too strict.

She doubts any families would want to divulge their exact recipe, which in her family's case is a 110-year-old secret.

“Merchants are very cautious about their revenue,” Arment said. “It follows the same type of form, but each recipe from each family is unique.”

Holden says he doesn't intend for the rules to restrict mom-and-pop pie shops, and doesn't think the statute will. In fact, he hopes to give a very special status to the artisan bakers who prepare the dish by hand every day.

“I really want to give that recognition to these small family bakeries and the pie and mash shops that are actually supplying these local products,” Holden said.

Given the spirit of Holden's campaign, Arment says she's confident the statute will be helpful to small businesses like hers.

“If it’s more widespread standardization, I think it could only do good,” Arment said.