‘Yes, Pie Minister’: Government urged to give pie and mash protected status

A former minister has urged the Government to say “Yes, Pie Minister” and give traditional pie and mash protected status to celebrate its cockney origins.

Richard Holden asked the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to award Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) status for the dish.

Mr Holden said that if the meal, comprising of a meat pie, mash potatoes and a parsley sauce known as liquor, was in Italy or France it would already be recognised.

In Italy or France (pie and mash) would be instantly recognised as something worth celebrating and preserving

Richard Holden

Leading a Westminster Hall debate on Tuesday, the Conservative MP for Basildon and Billericay said: “It is a staple of cockney cuisine moving out to places like the east of England and into Kent as the cockney diaspora moved post-war.

“That’s the reason I have pie and mash shops in Basildon today, and we are seeking recognition to safeguard the heritage and to promote it both here and internationally.”

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.”

The former Conservative Party chairman said France has 800 foods that have protected status, with Italy having a similar figure and the UK lagging far behind with fewer than 100.

The TSG status is awarded to food products that have a particular production method and composition.

Other protection is afforded to products linked to specific areas, known as Geographical Indication (GI) status.

Bramley apple pies and Cornish pasties are foods that already have TSG status.

Richard Holden was elected MP for Basildon and Billericay in July (James Manning/PA)PA Archive/PA Images - James Manning

Mr Holden referenced two pie and mash shops in his constituency, Robins Pie and Mash and Stacey’s Pie and Mash, which act as “hubs of the community”.

The 39-year-old said he first tried the meal after moving to London when he was 19.

He had told the PA news agency: “Personally I prefer mine also with vinegar, some people have chilli vinegar – it’s not for me. It’s not malted vinegar, it’s a specific sort of vinegar that they have with it.”

Defra said an application for TSG status requires agreement on the recipe that producers would need to follow to use the name in future and they will assess the case once a formal application is submitted.

Mr Holden’s fellow Essex MP Mark Francois (Con, Rayleigh and Wickford) said the food was “cosmopolitan” owing to the variety in outlets that serve it.

“I now have two good (shops) in my constituency, at Rayleigh Lanes Cafe and the Turkish cafe on the High Street, both of which do very good pie and mash, and that shows what a cosmopolitan food it’s become.”

Mr Francois added: “I want to do everything I can to endorse his campaign, to give it the recognition it really deserves.”

He later joked that he and Mr Holden might have a contest to find the best pie and mash shop across their constituencies.

I would warmly welcome a formal application and I'm very pleased that my officials are working closely with the proposal

Daniel Zeichner, minister

“I’ll pitch my pie and mash shops against him and we’ll see, perhaps for charity, who the winner will be,” he said.

Mr Holden said: “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’.”

Responding for the Government, environment minister Daniel Zeichner said: “I can guarantee him this Government’s going to go big on food and regional food in general.”

He went on to say: “As a hearty meal with roots in the docks of London, pie and mash has long been cherished as a working class staple of the very rich culinary heritage of our capital city.”

Mr Zeichner said there are already London foods with TSG status, such as London cure smoked salmon.

“Products like these show how local traditions can thrive and how we can celebrate them for their authenticity and tradition, which has been developed over a long, long time,” he said.

The minister went on to say: “The Government is committed to celebrating the UK’s Geographical Indications and will continue to promote them at home and abroad, working to ensure that the benefits are felt across the country.

“Now while due process prevents me from commenting today on whether pie and mash would qualify for the TSG status, I would warmly welcome a formal application and I’m very pleased that my officials are working closely with the proposal.”