Pub Classics · East London

Pie, Mash & Liquor

Name: Pie, Mash & Liquor
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 25 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: Pies: 500g minced beef, 1 onion, 400ml beef stock, shortcrust base and suet or puff lid; Mash: 1kg potatoes, butter, milk; Liquor: 25g butter, 25g flour, 500ml fish or light chicken stock; Large handful parsley, finely chopped; splash of malt vinegar; Chilli vinegar on the table, as is proper

The Cockney sacrament: minced beef pies with mash and “liquor” — a vivid green parsley sauce that has nothing to do with alcohol and everything to do with the East End.

Prep: 40 min
Cook: 45 min
Total: 85 min
Yield: Serves 4
Difficulty: Moderate
Era: Victorian

Ingredients

Pies: 500g minced beef, 1 onion, 400ml beef stock, shortcrust base and suet or puff lid
Mash: 1kg potatoes, butter, milk
Liquor: 25g butter, 25g flour, 500ml fish or light chicken stock
Large handful parsley, finely chopped; splash of malt vinegar
Chilli vinegar on the table, as is proper

Method

Oven200°C400°FFan 180°CGas 6

Simmer the mince and onion in the beef stock for 20 minutes; thicken with a flour slurry and season. Cool.
Fill pastry-lined pie tins, lid, crimp and bake at 200°C / 400°F for 25–30 minutes until golden.
For the liquor: make a white roux, whisk in the hot stock and simmer 5 minutes. Off the heat, add a mountain of parsley and a splash of vinegar — it should be unmistakably green.
Mash the potatoes softer than you think wise.
Serve pie and mash side by side, liquor ladled liberally over both, chilli vinegar to taste.

Oven temperatures are given in Celsius, Fahrenheit, fan and gas mark throughout. Quantities are metric, as cooked and written in the UK.