Archive for November, 2010

F.Cooke has been in Broadway Market (9 Broadway Market, London, E8 4PH) for years and always was one of the best Pie and mash Shop's in the area.

It wasn't much of a trip for us being on Bethnal Green road but it was one we made if we had time rather than use the three Pie and Mash shops in easy walking distance. Such was the quality of this shop and from those early days as a child, this has firmly remained my favorite Pie and mash shop in London.

I always ride to this one so I don't have much of a clue how to get there other than to say there's Cambridge Heath overground station nearby as well as Cambridge Heath Bus Garage and Bethnal Green Tube Station isn't too far off either (click here for map) all walkable easily.

The shop is a real blast from the past, it's a real step back in history where the shop is clad in marble, the tables are marble and you have a good old fashioned bench seat, no wooden chairs here! The shop was established in 1862 (see the creative commons licensed photo) and I don't think there's been much of an update for any of the fitments but it's classy in a basic sort of way. The pies are stored behind the counter and trays are brought up from below and taken out of their little metal trays only when they are put on the plate.(F. Cooke's pie and mash shop, Broadway Market, Hackney, London. 11 January 2006. Photographer: Fin Fahey)

Eels, liquor and mash are stored in huge chrome warmers on the right hand window, pies go on first, then the mash and then the liquor. If you order stewed eeels as well you could get them on the plate if there's room or in a separate bowl with it's own generous helping of liquor. You only get spoons and forks in here so don't go asking for a knife, there's also no gravy and no ketchup or sauce! On the table you'll find white pepper, salt and vinegar, you might have to hunt a bit for the chilli vinegar there's one to about every two tables. The chilli vinegar is hot and spicey with peppercorns in as well as chilli's, this one will make your nose run!

The guy who owns is very warm and friendly, most welcoming of any pie shop owner I've met. If you're a tourist (yes, they do go to Hackney) then he'll take you through it all patiently. Talking of tourists, Hackney around this place is becoming gentrified, the canal nearby has moorings for barges and it's a popular stop. Bicycle shops and arthouses abound everywhere and Hackney has had it's fair share of Banksy art installations.

That aside, the shop has been through some rough times and yet it still manages to stay and feed us poor visitors. Not all of us are East Enders either, some have moved far away and regularly make the trek in to Hackney for this Pie and Mash and take some away too. There's visitors that go in not to eat either, many films short, long and blockbuster have used rooms or the shop here. If you do go for a visit you may well see media types hauling camera rigs or waving clipboards around and maybe even the odd 'star' if you are really lucky.

The food available here is rustic, the pies are big, the mince is ground that bit chunkier and the mash may well have the odd lump or two, the eels are well cooked but can be soft if you get in a bit late. If you specifically want eels then don't go on a Monday, no fish market early Monday morning, he doesn't use frozen. You won't get gravy here either, just liquor. what you might get though is a fruit pie, I don't know if those are summer only or seasonal, I'll find out next time I go in.

Taste is where it counts here though, the pies are absolutely lovely even if you have to put up with the odd bit of chewy beef where it hasn't been ground so fine. That is few and far between though, the pies are lovely full of thick dark brown gravy, these really are pies to savour. The mash is tasty and the liquor is lovely and dark green, really tasty that coats everything beautifully only thinning with vinegar and gravy. I can't really describe why the Pies and Mash taste so good here, everything just seems to gel together perfectly and that extends to the surroundings, the tiles, the signed photo's, the community based adverts, it just all feels so right. Drinks are tea and squash.

Round Up I know this is my favorite shop and I hope you can see why. From the welcome to the feeling you have when you leave, it's an experience and it's an experience people travel miles for. If you want no nonsense feeding then this is the place for you, you get the history with the real flavour of the East End. This place always does it for me, perfectly every time. I'll not go on too much more, I just rate this place.

There's nothing to fear going here, if you don't understand stuff or want to try something just ask. You can ask for 20 pies to take away but be prepared to wait because the sitting eaters get fed first. If in doubt, phone ahead. I rated F Cooke's 19/20 - The failing being the rare chewy bit of meat, personally I'm suspicious of smooth mash. This place is a winner it's just a bit off the beaten path, please go, it's lovely.

* Address: 9 Broadway Market, London, E8 4PH
* Tel: +44 (0)20 7254 6458
* Opening Times: Mon - Thur: 10:00 - 19:00, Fri - Sat: 10:30 - 20:00

Gocmc website click the link: http://www.dashack.co.uk/gocmc/ Eaten in this Pie Shop? Write your comments below

A million years ago when it took days (if not weeks) to chase an animal down in your barefeet, kill it with your handmade bow and arrow, eviscerate and butcher it with the shard of shale that one of your six wives whittled, and then figure out a way to preserve the meat without the use of refrigeration or salt, it made sense to eat really gross foods—that is sort of all you had and you were lucky to get it.

But a while after World War II ended, after England got back on its battered feet and charged, stiff upper lip into the modern world (full of indoor pull-chain loos and cramped under-counter refrigerators), one would presume that eating the remnants of slaughtered animals, the stuff that should only be used in tinned dog food would have ended with a collective sigh of relief.

It’d be a safe assumption, right? Wrong. Call it a cultural thing, but the Brits still eat some questionable grub. In the first eighteen months of living in their country, being a food writer, I thought it best to try some of the foods that foreigners make fun of. Here’s a list of those foods I tried that I will never put into my mouth again.

1) Rollmops Not originally British, but the fact that they have embraced them so, makes it all the worse. Herring, skin intact, soaked in a sweet and sour brine until awful, then wrapped around an olive or onion. Served cold or room temperature. Tastes like low tide.

2) TripeThe lining of a cow, sheep, pig or deer’s stomach. Have you seen this stuff? Culinary tip number 342: Stop reading any recipe that begins with, ‘boil for 2-3 hours to tenderize and clean’.

3) Black Pudding Sounds like something Mrs. Doubtfire might set down in front of you after a nice English supper. It’s not. It is sausage made from the blood of pigs. The flavour isn’t all that bad, it’s just the idea that you are eating blood (and the iron taste that clings to the back of your teeth 30 minutes after finishing).

4) Jellied Eels At least no one is trying to sweeten up the name—this is what it purports to be. Fresh water eels cut into rounds (never mind about the skin and bones), then cooked in a fish stock and allowed to cool in the gelatin that results naturally from their bony serpentine bodies. It’s like eating a snotty snake.

5) Cockles in Vinegar Cockles are small clams that are cooked and chucked into a vat of vinegar. Cockles = Good. Cockles + Vinegar = Gag.

6) Brawn Also known as ‘head cheese’. This is a case of dressing up the name so that young children will eat the head on their plate. Made from a calf, cow, pig or sheep’s head, the brain is removed (these people aren’t Barbarians, after all) and it is boiled. As it cooks, the skull releases copious amounts of gelatin. The head is picked of its meat sometimes chunks of heart may be added, then the meat and skull gelatin are mixed together and set. Eaten by the slice usually as luncheon meat. Just the idea of this is a show-stopper.

By Jennifer Brulé The Faster Times

For centuries they were a popular sight in Welsh rivers, despite being renowned as the most slippery and elusive of customers. But the rapid disappearance of eels from the nation’s waterways – dropping by an alarming 70% in a generation – is now a major cause for concern among naturalists. Rivers such as the Wye and Severn once teemed with eels. At one time they were so common that they were a form of currency. The Domesday Book lists hundreds of water mills whose rent was paid in eels.

But in recent years, far fewer elvers (young eels) have made the two-year migration from the Caribbean to get here.Wildlife experts say their decline is as mysterious as the fish themselves, which can grow to a metre long and have one of the most fascinating migratory life-cycles on Earth. The situation has now reached a critical level. The number of elvers migrating into rivers from the sea has fallen by 70% in Wales since the 1980s, according to estimates by Environment Agency Wales.

Andy Schofield, the agency’s strategy manager, said there were several theories to explain their decline, including climate change and commercial over-fishing in the Bay of Biscay. “When elvers are born they are not self-propelling and it takes them two years to drift on the Gulf Stream and ocean currents from the Caribbean across to Wales, where they are filtered into our rivers,” he said.

“Some scientists think shifts in the ocean’s currents, caused by the El Nino climate pattern, have led to changes in this cycle. Others think changes to the ocean’s temperature could have a big impact on them and their food supplies. “Maybe the plankton they feed on has disappeared and the elvers are ending up as food themselves. They are also prone to a parasite that feeds on their bladders. “Just 30 years ago there were big eel populations on the River Wye. People were using dip nets to catch elvers and transport them live to the Far East, where they are considered a delicacy. “They would fetch hundreds of pounds per kilo and they would be taken to grow at farms out there. “The young were far more valuable than the adults, that can end up smoked or as jellied eels in the UK.”

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle theorised they were born “of nothing”, but baby eels are actually hatched from eggs in the upper levels of the deep Sargasso Sea, 5,000km away. Their sinister-looking features may not win them many fans, but their presence in Wales is vital for the wild otters and herons that feed on them, as well as being economically important for fisheries.

Mr Schofield conceded the agency couldn’t do much about conditions out at sea, but he added that making it easier for eels to navigate their way around Wales could help them. “We are improving their habitats and making sure that our lifestyles have little impact on their adult lives,” he said. “Eels can cross damp fields at night to get from pond to pond and will leave the water rather than tackle a waterfall, making them easy prey.

“In South Wales, we have created fish passes for salmon and trout, with tiny brushes to help eels make their way up the River Taff and other rivers. “We believe that eels spend most of their adult lives here before leaving at around seven to 12 years old to return to the Caribbean to spawn.” Rob Strachan, biodiversity officer for Environment Agency Wales, said: “The number of elvers migrating into rivers from the sea, has fallen by more than 95% for Europe, with an estimated 70% reduction in England and Wales. “They have been added to the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and are an important prey for several protected species.” He fears that, if no action is taken, there may be no adult eels left in 20-30 years.

“The European eel is the subject of urgent legislation in Brussels. It is an endangered species and member states are required to take immediate steps to protect it,” he said. “We aim to ensure that 40% of the pre-1980s level of silver eels survive to migrate back to sea,” added Mr Strachan.

By Sally Williams Western Mail Wales OnLine