“Pie and mash,” a classic Cockney staple, originated around the Docks of London in the Victorian era. Often accompanied by jellied eels, the dish typically consists of a minced beef pie and mashed potatoes, along with a parsley liquor. Contrary to what the name might suggest, this herbaceous green sauce contained no booze, but rather liquid used for preparing the eels.
While “eel, pie and mash shops” were once common throughout London, the number is in steady decline. Many of the old establishments have permanently in recent decades. Today, the title of the oldest surviving eel and pie shop belongs to M. Manze, a family business founded in 1902.
The Manze family immigrated from Italy to Britain in 1878, settling in Bermondsey and establishing themselves as ice merchants. Later, they entered the eel, pie and mash trade, occupying the building of another pie shop that opened in 1892, the year now attributed to M. Manze itself.
The Manze family proved quite successful and owned a total of fourteen shops in London by 1930, though none of which (save for the original Tower Bridge Road location) has survived the test of time. Since 2019, M. Manze is run by the fourth generation of the family, carrying on the legacy of a (once) popular Cockney trade.
