The encyclopaedia of gravy
Liquor is the green parsley sauce served with pie and mash in London's eel and pie houses. It descends from the water stewed eels were cooked in, and it occupies the place gravy holds elsewhere.
In a London pie and mash shop, the thing poured over your pie is called liquor, and a first-time visitor expecting gravy gets a surprise: it is pale green, sharp with parsley, and thin.
It belongs on Gravypedia because it does gravy's job — moistening the plate and tying the components together — by an entirely different route.
What it is¶
A light, pale green sauce, thickened with flour or cornflour, and absolutely full of chopped parsley. Sharp rather than rich, and thinner than a brown gravy.
The name gives away the origin: liquor is the cooking liquor from stewed eels. Eel and pie houses sold stewed eels alongside pies, the eel water was flavourful and free, and thickening it with parsley made a sauce. Many shops now make liquor without eel stock at all, which purists regret and most customers cannot tell.
The plate¶
- One or two minced beef pies, with a thin shortcrust base and a puff lid
- Mashed potato, traditionally smeared up one side of the plate with a spatula rather than scooped
- Liquor, ladled over the lot
- Chilli vinegar on the table, sprinkled to taste
- Stewed or jellied eels, if you want them
The shops¶
Pie and mash is a working-class London tradition, strongest in the East End and south of the river, and closely associated with a handful of family firms — the Manze, Cooke and Goddard names among them — some trading since the late nineteenth century. Many of the shops retain their original tiling, marble counters and wooden benches, and several are now listed buildings.
The number of shops has fallen steadily as the communities that sustained them dispersed, which has turned pie and mash into something of a heritage dish as well as a lunch.
Making liquor¶
Serves 4
- 30 g butter · 30 g plain flour
- 500 ml fish or light vegetable stock (eel stock if you have it, which you will not)
- A very large bunch of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped — more than feels sensible
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar · salt and white pepper
- Make a pale roux with the butter and flour, 2 minutes, no colour.
- Whisk in the stock gradually and simmer 5 minutes. Keep it thin — liquor pours, it does not coat.
- Off the heat, stir in the parsley, the vinegar and plenty of white pepper.
Do not brown the roux, do not add meat stock, and do not thicken it to gravy consistency. All three would make something perfectly nice that is not liquor.
Liquor and gravy compared¶
| Liquor | Brown gravy | |
|---|---|---|
| Colour | Pale green | Brown |
| Base | Eel or fish stock | Meat stock and roasting juices |
| Herb | Parsley, in quantity | Thyme, bay, rosemary |
| Consistency | Thin | Coating |
| Acidity | Vinegar, on the table | Wine or Worcestershire, in the pan |