Campaign underway to get UK ‘Cockney classic’ protected status

A conservative former minister is campaigning for pie and mash to get enahnced status in the UK. NB: The dish does taste better than it looks. Promise.

A campaign has been launched to give one of Britain’s traditional (and least appealing looking) dishes protected status: pie and mash.
For those who haven’t yet had the pleasure, it looks like rather banal minced beef pies accompanied by finesse-deprived dollops of pureed spuds and copious amounts of green sick as a garnish. However, that final touch is parsley sauce (known as liquor), and if you can move past the presentation, the dish is actually quite nice.
Originating in the Docks of London and considered a “Cockney classic”, it is traditionally also accompanied by jellied eels – as eels were one of the few forms of fish that could survive the heavily polluted rivers of London during Victorian times.
Conservative former minister Richard Holden and producers have made representations to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) about an application for Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) status for the dish.
Holden, who is the current MP for Basildon and Billericay, has written to 40 MPs to try to rally support for his quest, while DEFRA has said an application for TSG status requires agreement on the recipe that producers would need to follow to use the name in future. They added that they would assess the case once a formal application is submitted.
Leading a Westminster Hall debate yesterday, Holden said: “We are seeking recognition to safeguard the heritage and to promote it both here and internationally.”
Best of luck on the international front.
He added: “The pie, mash and liquors are freshly made to authentic family-own recipes passed down through generations like precious heirlooms. Something that, let’s say in Italy or France, would be instantly recognised as something worth celebrating and preserving.”
Debatable, as Italian and French readers are probably too busy being sick in a drain after seeing this article’s header image. Still, point made, and everyone needs a hill to die on.
Holden went on to say that France has 800 foods that have protected status, with Italy having a similar figure and the UK lagging far behind with fewer than 100.
Other British staples that already have TSG status include Bramley apple pies, Melton Mowbray Pork Pies and Cornish pasties.
Holden told PA: “Just to really say to everyone, get out there, try that pie and mash, and to the minister, I hope that we will be able to get this status and we will be able to say to you ‘Yes, Pie Minister’.”
British cuisine may have seen more aesthetically pleasing days, but at least the famous Brit wit is alive and well.
Additional sources • PA