London Town

When I was a kid, Whitsun week was spent at Leysdown, on the Isle of Sheppey. Apart from rain, the only other thing we could be sure of was a visit to the Pie and Mash shop.
Pie and Mash is a traditional London working class meal and once upon a time, you could find a Pie, Mash and Eel shop all over south and east London and many parts of Essex.
I think there was a time when I actually liked Pie and Mash, but after losing my heart to Curry, nothing was ever as tasty as a Beef Madras.
A few months ago, I was watching Saturday Kitchen with my Fiancée when suddenly, up popped a video about Pie and Mash. After explaining all about it, how it's a traditional working class meal, dates back to the 18th century, consists of a meat pie, mashed potato and a sauce called Liquor, which isn't alcoholic but is made of Parsley, she said she would like to try one.
Last Friday, we visited London. I had looked up a Pie and Mash shop on Google and so we paid it a visit. Visiting an authentic Pie and Mash shop is an experience. This particular one was covered in tiles which made it look like a public toilet, the seats were wooden benches, the staff had most of their teeth and the other customers looked like extras from Oliver. I ordered Pie, Mash and Eels, for both of us, and took a photo of it (see above). It tasted as good as it looks. I'm all for tradition, I really like Duvel Day, which is a tradition I made up. But Pie and Mash is one of those meals that earned British cuisine its bad reputation. I really like that scene in the Simpsons when homer is on a diet and he takes a bite of a rice cake, looks at it and shouts "Hello, taste?" Eating Pie and Mash is like that, it's bland, uninteresting food and even after remembering that you had to add a splash of vinegar and pepper to the liquor to spice it up a bit, it was still bland. It certainly fills you up, though. I had the pleasure of its company for the rest of the day...end of part 1.