1975: JELLIED EELS and SMOKED HADDOCK | A Taste of Britain | Voice of the People | BBC Archive

Sdílet
Vložit
  • čas přidán 4. 09. 2022
  • Derek Cooper explores some of the traditional dishes of the East End of London - from jellied eels to smoked haddock.
    Derek first visits Joyce's Pie and Mash Shop on Tower Bridge Road, the oldest eel and pie shop in the East End, where the menu - pie, parsley sauce, mashed potatoes and stewed eels - has remained unchanged for decades. Then on to Tubby Isaac's jellied eel stall in Aldgate, where Tubby himself addresses the rumour that eels are an aphrodisiac, and bemoans the rising price of his most famous ingredient. After a quick stop at Billingsgate Fish Market, Derek finally speaks to Eric Ruffell - one of the few remaining East End fishmongers who operates a smoke hole to prepare traditional smoked haddock.
    As urban renewal projects see the old tenements replaced by high-rise flats, are these the last bastions of traditional East End cuisine?
    This clip is from A Taste of Britain, originally broadcast 27 August, 1975.
    You have now entered the BBC Archive, an audiovisual time machine that will transport you back to the golden age of TV to educate, entertain and enlighten you with classic clips from the BBC vaults.
    Make sure you subscribe so that you never miss a single stop on our amazing journey through the BBC Archive - czcams.com/users/BBCArchive?...
  • Zábava

Komentáře • 1,6K

  • @elrondhubbard7059
    @elrondhubbard7059 Před 5 měsíci +692

    "I reckon eels is the most nutrimental food there is"
    -- Guy who sells eels.

    • @tmarritt
      @tmarritt Před 3 měsíci +56

      I mean especially back then when they came from the Thames it contained all you nutrition needs, rubber, coal, sewage, bits of dead people.
      And how we import from china we get exactly the same quality.
      I do like a smoked fish tho.

    • @sasori100x
      @sasori100x Před 3 měsíci +3

      when this was filmed they came from newfoundland

    • @wilmh9586
      @wilmh9586 Před 3 měsíci +4

      @@tmarritt HAHA Well said mate...my sentiment exactly...Thames =rubber coal sewage rats mice and rotten corpses

    • @1421davidm
      @1421davidm Před 2 měsíci +1

      Lou Hart, better man than you.

    • @elrondhubbard7059
      @elrondhubbard7059 Před 2 měsíci +3

      @@1421davidm Geez man, it's a joke.

  • @jogsamson
    @jogsamson Před rokem +969

    We have no idea how gently he’s holding them pies

    • @rebeccanater
      @rebeccanater Před rokem +60

      Not even a thumbprint

    • @lucascoval828
      @lucascoval828 Před rokem +33

      That Munchies callback!
      😁

    • @xyz-ns7ym
      @xyz-ns7ym Před 8 měsíci +4

      Haha

    • @MrGnarlybirdman
      @MrGnarlybirdman Před 6 měsíci +3

      Is this the same
      Shop?

    • @ATY676
      @ATY676 Před 6 měsíci +8

      I'm still trying to figure out which University degree I need to do so I can figure out how gently he's holding them?

  • @horsenuts1831
    @horsenuts1831 Před rokem +331

    I was 10 when this was shot, and I moved to the East End of London some 8 years later. A lot of this is still recognisable to me (at the time the docks were shutting down and I had a job in the a dole office in East London). There were still a few pie m mash shops around but I never developed a taste for it, and I don't car for jellied eels (but I love smoked eels). It is interesting to see the old Billingsgate market. I recall a storty from when they re-developed it that they just couldn't get rid of the smell of fish until they discovered that the cast iron roof supports were full of water that was infused with the smell of a century's worth of fish trading.

    • @eva5601
      @eva5601 Před rokem +6

      I also was 9, or 10 depending on what month of the year this video was filmed. My Birthday is in August.

    • @ssgssbeet4133
      @ssgssbeet4133 Před rokem +19

      Im american but read this in a thick english accent

    • @parlay-music
      @parlay-music Před rokem +4

      @@ssgssbeet4133 cool

    • @ssgssbeet4133
      @ssgssbeet4133 Před rokem +9

      @@parlay-music thanks

    • @briangleason5597
      @briangleason5597 Před 9 měsíci +3

      Dam good Eating. Eels and pies.

  • @johnferry7778
    @johnferry7778 Před 7 měsíci +241

    I cried when I watched this and I’m not sure why. I grew up in London in the sixties and these are the kinds of faces I remember from my childhood.

    • @Surreptitious_1
      @Surreptitious_1 Před 6 měsíci

      Development and progress is great but we've lost our culture and community. All sold off, sold out and replaced by consumerism, giving rise to China and global communism.

    • @sugarfish6722
      @sugarfish6722 Před 6 měsíci +75

      ​@@spunkychops7484getting *ucked is different from "moving on"

    • @BBCBOY919
      @BBCBOY919 Před 6 měsíci

      i love getting uck@@sugarfish6722

    • @garyk1334
      @garyk1334 Před 6 měsíci

      ​@@sugarfish6722Spinkychops is clueless

    • @newbleppmore7855
      @newbleppmore7855 Před 6 měsíci +103

      Native population wiped out in London

  • @IronMonkeySounds
    @IronMonkeySounds Před 5 měsíci +61

    Eels are a bit of a delicacy in Denmark (and very expensive), but we typically eat them either pan fried in butter served with potatoes, or smoked on rye bread with scrambled eggs and chives.

    • @user-et6pj4db9s
      @user-et6pj4db9s Před 5 měsíci +24

      That definitely sounds more appetising than cold in jelly

    • @patrick-bu3eq
      @patrick-bu3eq Před 5 měsíci +1

      They are very expensive now in the Netherlands too 1kg easily sets you back 50 euros without looking at current prices.. They are here mostly eaten smoked probably now a days as sushi but thats another story. Stewed eels used to be populair amongst the working classes here too.@@user-et6pj4db9s

    • @Jack908r
      @Jack908r Před 5 měsíci +8

      I have no idea why the British view cooking as an enemy activity to be completed with every ounce of resistance a human can muster. But the Danish way sounds like its actually appealing.

    • @aclubcalledRAGE
      @aclubcalledRAGE Před 4 měsíci

      When did you last eat in in Britain?@@Jack908r

    • @froggin-zp4nr
      @froggin-zp4nr Před 3 měsíci +4

      See now that sounds like a simple way to make eels sound palatable. Don't know why people on this island have dreadful cooking skills and equally bad taste buds

  • @sandro9237
    @sandro9237 Před rokem +569

    Their cuisine and the face of their women made the british the best sailor in the world

  • @nikamota
    @nikamota Před rokem +121

    "..there's nothing elaborate about Mr Rufffles smoke hole.."
    I don't think I'll ever hear anything as charming as that in ...well...ever!

    • @natethebesttt
      @natethebesttt Před rokem +4

      Excuse me

    • @Angelicala
      @Angelicala Před 3 měsíci +2

      Love this. 😂 Can imagine Rik mayall saying this in his tone.

    • @UnIimited_Power
      @UnIimited_Power Před 3 měsíci +3

      He has to get a chimney sweep up there every month!

    • @Angelicala
      @Angelicala Před 3 měsíci +1

      @unlimited_power. Sounds painful 😓

  • @jamesphlames7498
    @jamesphlames7498 Před rokem +121

    I used to go to a 'pie and mash' shop after work on a Friday when i got my pay cheque. It was like a moment of glory! True comfort food. It brings a tear to my eye thinking about how wonderful those days were!

    • @SamTheManWhoCanTwice
      @SamTheManWhoCanTwice Před rokem +6

      Middle aged people back then hated those times! everything was new and without tradition!

    • @jamesphlames7498
      @jamesphlames7498 Před rokem +12

      @@SamTheManWhoCanTwice That wasn't my experience of middle aged people at all. I'm not sure where you pulled that from.

    • @judohondaboiii
      @judohondaboiii Před rokem +5

      For me all the days are wonderful. Especially nowadays since I can access my playlist of favourite sex scenes on CZcams.

    • @SamTheManWhoCanTwice
      @SamTheManWhoCanTwice Před rokem +11

      @@jamesphlames7498 older people always complain about how the world was better when they were younger,
      You can read accounts from the Romans saying 'it was so much better back in my day'

    • @jamesphlames7498
      @jamesphlames7498 Před rokem +6

      @@SamTheManWhoCanTwice It depends on which direction you choose to look.
      My grandparents back then were incredibly happy, as was my boss, the people surrounding me and my dog.

  • @andrewferrier3351
    @andrewferrier3351 Před rokem +184

    I checked, in London jellied eels are 26 Australian dollars per kg, in Sydney oysters are 20 dollars per kg, that man was right

    • @TankManHeavy
      @TankManHeavy Před rokem +39

      World's gone crazy, Lobster and Salmon were considered the poor mans food if you go back far enough too, now you pay a premium for it.

    • @petesmith9472
      @petesmith9472 Před rokem +11

      Oysters are not sold by the kilo. They are sold by the dozen at the retail level and by standard sack at the farm gate. The price is determined by the number of oysters in each sack.

    • @jesegyani3575
      @jesegyani3575 Před rokem

      For the Sydney oysters are you referring to American dollars

    • @aurelmatthews4164
      @aurelmatthews4164 Před rokem +1

      Oysters need to be fresh generally, which means keeping them in their shell. Twenty dollars per KG for oysters includes the shell i assume?

    • @ZILOGz80VIDEOS
      @ZILOGz80VIDEOS Před rokem +15

      @@TankManHeavy They've both been massively overfished. They had to cancel the snow crab season in Alaska after an 80%+ drop in population this year and probably will for the next several because their population has been so poorly managed.

  • @johngough2958
    @johngough2958 Před rokem +200

    A lot of the eels came from Ireland. I read (a few decades ago) about some family on the West Coast of Ireland who supplied eels and one of them turned up in London looking for work and only knowing the eel pie seller - he was totally shocked by the mark up in price! Especially as back home they hadn't been paid for the last catch sent over.

    • @fairybuddy-angel2035
      @fairybuddy-angel2035 Před rokem

      Britain and London - screwing our neighbours for years and years.

    • @jessicatorretto159
      @jessicatorretto159 Před rokem +2

      And scrumptious fried in a pan in there own fat and a pinch of pepper. I used to catch them in the streams everywhere and the invasive species of the American yabby. Easy to catch and a great bit of grub.

    • @TheBenzer9
      @TheBenzer9 Před rokem +7

      The guy who originally started selling them back in the late 1800s was from Ireland greystones Co wicklow I think, his great grandson is selling running one of the oldest pie and mash shops in london

    • @AMPProf
      @AMPProf Před 6 měsíci

      Yep

    • @astroboirap
      @astroboirap Před 6 měsíci +2

      lmao @ nutrimental

  • @stephenord3403
    @stephenord3403 Před rokem +46

    Such wonderful characters, sadly gone now 😢

    • @phillpidgeon8961
      @phillpidgeon8961 Před 5 měsíci +2

      hearing a east end say bob or 2. Makes me just want to go see my dad and have a chat

  • @dorndy1
    @dorndy1 Před 6 měsíci +76

    the gentleman that begins speaking at 2:50 (Tubby Isaac) has such a way of speaking, so well articulated, thought out, pragmatic, knowledgeable without a hint of pretension.

    • @AudioJellyfish
      @AudioJellyfish Před 5 měsíci +2

      He sounds like the Hitcher from Mighty Boosh

    • @dorndy1
      @dorndy1 Před 5 měsíci +2

      @@AudioJellyfish Eels up inside ya, finding an entrance where they can.

    • @0PsychosisMedia0
      @0PsychosisMedia0 Před 3 měsíci

      I thought he is on a current show. Going to markets around the world. The voice and speak pattern is unmistakable.

    • @biggdogg6196
      @biggdogg6196 Před 2 měsíci

      He has the exact same voice as Arthur Smith the comedian!

    • @0scarisaiah
      @0scarisaiah Před 2 měsíci

      @@AudioJellyfish Had the exact same thought. Wondered if they'd based the character off him

  • @johnbarry1965
    @johnbarry1965 Před 5 měsíci +27

    Up here in Wales, I treat myself quite often to a proper East End tea of Pie,mash and liquor with white pepper and chilli vinegar. It's all gravy up here!!

  • @the_terrorizer
    @the_terrorizer Před rokem +81

    As an American, I am disgusted by the thought of jellied eels yet also terribly intrigued. Wonderfully shot documentary

    • @Jack-bx3ow
      @Jack-bx3ow Před rokem +11

      And how about that bright green liquid?

    • @the_terrorizer
      @the_terrorizer Před rokem +16

      @@Jack-bx3ow Looks like something from a cartoon hahaha. Why does it have to be bright green? What does it taste like?? We may never know

    • @romulus_
      @romulus_ Před rokem +17

      @@the_terrorizer it's made from parsley. i'm american, would give it all a try. there's a reason why it was popular.

    • @hellfirepictures
      @hellfirepictures Před 8 měsíci +4

      @@Jack-bx3ow It's literally chopped parsley, flour, and water. Nothing more.

    • @hellfirepictures
      @hellfirepictures Před 8 měsíci +2

      @@the_terrorizer It's literally chopped parsley, flour, and water. Nothing more. It tastes like parsley. Try making it - I don't personally rate it but my family have always loved the stuff - in true East-London fashion.

  • @kidkieran77
    @kidkieran77 Před rokem +234

    What I find fascinating, being a Londoner born in the early 90s, is just how central 'East' was even up until the 1970s.

    • @darkarts59
      @darkarts59 Před rokem

      Quite.

    • @pigglewiggle175
      @pigglewiggle175 Před rokem +1

      OK kid.

    • @grimjim1599
      @grimjim1599 Před rokem +76

      It's more like the middle east these days

    • @acropolisnow9466
      @acropolisnow9466 Před rokem +65

      @@grimjim1599 It's disgraceful what has been done to the city and this country. The same has happened all across Europe.

    • @Miniver765
      @Miniver765 Před rokem

      @@acropolisnow9466 Yes. It's all about destroying historically wyte, krish/chun countries throughout Europe.

  • @SGProductions87
    @SGProductions87 Před rokem +69

    Makes me think of being a kid. My parents used to take me down to Whitstable back in those days and we'd come back with a hoard of shellfish, mainly cockles, muscles and whelks. Watching this made me realise what that whole thing was all about. It was cultural, but at the time it was just a thing that happened that I enjoyed but didn't really understand. Of course now, I never experience these things, but this made me miss it and get a touch teary-eyed.

    • @JulieWallis1963
      @JulieWallis1963 Před rokem +2

      Whitstable eh? Wow, so cockney 🥴
      Sorry, but, WTAF has whitstable cockles and a day trip got to do with pie n mash and jellied eels?

    • @hellfirepictures
      @hellfirepictures Před 8 měsíci +9

      @@JulieWallis1963 Because Whitstable was a standard day trip for South and East-end Londoners. Because the Whitstable cockles were sold in London on the same stalls that the Eels were sold on. Because people would often have Eels and Cockles or Whelks or Mussels. Because the day trips often resulted in a stop-off to get Eels at the end of the day.
      And because yes, it is a VERY Cockney lifestyle. These trips by Eastenders out of London to the coastal fishing villages of the southeast, and these combinations of foods, are uniquely Cockney London.
      Soditch the 'WTAF' attitude and be educated.

  • @WolfDaddy420
    @WolfDaddy420 Před 5 měsíci +27

    I am a 59 year old Italian-American from New Jersey and pie n mash with stewed or jellied eels on the side looks like good enough food to me. I used to catch eels in the bay while standing on the dock during summers down the shore in Point Pleasant back in the 70's. Then my father would gut them and remove the bones and my Sicilian grandmother would flour and fry them in olive oil served with spaghetti on the side therefore I grew up eating them and I still love 'em. Other than that nutrimental is a word whether anyone's pretentious ass likes it or not, folks✌🏼

    • @user-og2wt3le4j
      @user-og2wt3le4j Před 21 dnem +1

      Sounds like a good Italian American meal to me. I love eel and spaghetti.

  • @traceya9615
    @traceya9615 Před rokem +58

    Nice to see Derek Cooper. His voice is very evocative for me of 70s' tv and radio reports.

  • @BVargas78
    @BVargas78 Před 5 měsíci +16

    I remember that Britain from when i was a kid. It was still around in the early to mid 80's. It's funny how much things changed especially over the 90s.

  • @jasonhewlett1283
    @jasonhewlett1283 Před rokem +32

    Great to see old London !

  • @paulohlsen3332
    @paulohlsen3332 Před rokem +43

    My great grandparents ran an eel and pie shop, great documentary

  • @britturk123
    @britturk123 Před rokem +47

    I love going back in time it feels like I am in a time machine, a lovely capture of these wonderful decent honest folk.

  • @AN-ed8qq
    @AN-ed8qq Před rokem +158

    What a beautiful and nostalgic documentary piece. I love eel and pie shops. I understand that eels are an acquired taste. Personally I love them, but I know lots of people who really don't.

    • @Zooumberg
      @Zooumberg Před rokem +2

      I had them once in London and hated them. I then tried again in Blackpool and hated them. However, I believe I was eating them incorrectly, crunching the bones isn't the done thing. If I'm ever away from Newcastle again, I'll give them another chance.

    • @hetrodoxly1203
      @hetrodoxly1203 Před rokem +10

      @@Zooumberg No don't crunch the bones, they're sharp, pick the meat off the bones as if eating a drumstick, like in the film they're best with vinegar and pepper.

    • @Zooumberg
      @Zooumberg Před rokem +3

      @@hetrodoxly1203 I tell you what I do like. Whelks. It's like seafood chewing gum. With loads of vinegar and pepper. There's not much seafood I don't like. I will try eels again sometime.

    • @hetrodoxly1203
      @hetrodoxly1203 Před rokem +2

      @@Zooumberg I also love whelks.

    • @Zooumberg
      @Zooumberg Před rokem +2

      @@hetrodoxly1203 whelks, mussels, cockles, there's not much seafood I don't like. Shame it's so expensive these days.

  • @almiles6922
    @almiles6922 Před rokem +56

    Sort of wish times were still like this

  • @london2resistance
    @london2resistance Před 3 měsíci +4

    Living in London I’ve been lucky enough to encounter only on a few occasions to purchase Jellied Eels, I’m glad to say I took every opportunity to keep on walking

  • @jomatuazon
    @jomatuazon Před rokem +60

    Love how dapper that seafood/jellied eels vendor looks!

    • @noramartin96
      @noramartin96 Před 4 měsíci +1

      Yes Tubby Isaacs was very famous at his stall in Aldgate

  • @--pussypatroll--
    @--pussypatroll-- Před rokem +32

    I could watch gems like this all day long.

  • @davewalker7126
    @davewalker7126 Před rokem +1130

    'neutrimental' food indeed

  • @stephenscales353
    @stephenscales353 Před rokem +31

    Surely some Hoxton/Shoreditch hipsters can revive jellied eels and no doubt charge £20 a portion.

    • @Hellomynameis93
      @Hellomynameis93 Před rokem +1

      And? That's what capitalism is all about. If someone is willing to pay for it then charge it.

    • @tonypine3434
      @tonypine3434 Před 5 měsíci

      You can get jellied eels in the poppies off commercial street

    • @davefave4351
      @davefave4351 Před 3 měsíci

      Served on a Redland 49 roofing tile...

    • @TheFanatical1
      @TheFanatical1 Před 2 měsíci +1

      You'd have to, as jellied eel is critically endangered.

    • @georgerobartes2008
      @georgerobartes2008 Před měsícem

      Try Cookes in Hoxton St , been there for ever .

  • @blackcitroenlove
    @blackcitroenlove Před rokem +28

    Smoked fish is a Cherokee staple. We smoke it slowly over hickory, so good. The man doing the smoking does it pretty much the same way we do, which is neat to see.

  • @iandeare1
    @iandeare1 Před rokem +18

    My father was a proppa East end Cockney born in Shadwell, 1921. Eventually ended up in Arbroath; where we do smoked haddock very slightly differently: the world famous "Arbroath Smokie"
    (the style described in the clip would generally be called Yellow Fish locally)

    • @rickyspanish9002
      @rickyspanish9002 Před 2 měsíci

      Who did he go to France with?

    • @iandeare1
      @iandeare1 Před 2 měsíci

      ​@@rickyspanish9002I have absolutely no idea what you're referring to; but oddly my paternal Great Grandfather painted chapel ceiling frescoes in France, and added an acute accent, altering the spelling to Dearé, as is the custom in Europe, they would've pronounced the final e, which is silent in English.
      The name is not unique, but unusual, and has been traced back to the I6th C.

    • @rickyspanish9002
      @rickyspanish9002 Před 2 měsíci

      @@iandeare1 what i mean is most British men born in 1921 got a free trip to France right around 1940

    • @iandeare1
      @iandeare1 Před 2 měsíci

      @@rickyspanish9002 : nope my father went to India and North Africa as, RAF Aircrew transport Command AG/Sigs, and later, in 1943 Coastal Command, U-boat patrol in Scotland

    • @rickyspanish9002
      @rickyspanish9002 Před 2 měsíci

      @@iandeare1 thats awesome!

  • @hetrodoxly1203
    @hetrodoxly1203 Před rokem +51

    It was very similar in Birmingham, there was the huge old Smithfield fish market and the market stalls in the bull ring, you can still get a small bowel of jelled eels with a chunk of bread with vinegar and pepper, or a plate of welks to eat at one of the shellfish stalls, the old Smithfield market was knocked down in the 1970s but a new one was built.

    • @rjy8960
      @rjy8960 Před rokem +3

      I remember going to the Birmingham fish market as a young child in the 70's and eating whelks standing up!

    • @croonyerzoonyer
      @croonyerzoonyer Před rokem +4

      A small ‘bowel’? Yuck! Surely you mean BOWL.

    • @hetrodoxly1203
      @hetrodoxly1203 Před rokem +12

      @@croonyerzoonyer Sorry if you couldn't see it was an obvious typo.

    • @AudioJellyfish
      @AudioJellyfish Před 5 měsíci

      I thought it was some kind of old medical thing. "Got a problem with your Derby Kell? you need a jellied eel in your bowel, fix you right up".@@hetrodoxly1203

  • @jcs3330
    @jcs3330 Před rokem +12

    I remember my beloved late Mother taking me into the two pie & mash shops in Deptford high street in the early seventies (I think one was called Goddards and the other Manzies or something similar, with sawdust covering the floors) when I was a young child.
    She would order the jellied eels for herself (I refused to eat them!) and pie & mash for me. I also remember when Fish & Chips came with a serving of 'crispy bits' on the side and served in old newspaper. (All probably stopped by the FSA and Health and Safety brigade!). What great days they were.

    • @elliotvernon7971
      @elliotvernon7971 Před 7 měsíci +4

      A J Goddard had to shut down, but Manzes is still on Deptford High Street.

    • @pnelancslad9771
      @pnelancslad9771 Před 2 měsíci

      Been to Goddards at Greenwich in december had my first pie and mash here absolutley superb

  • @tazzatamania
    @tazzatamania Před rokem +10

    Lovely this. From Liverpool so only ever been for pie and mash once, very tasty.

  • @carlkamuti
    @carlkamuti Před rokem +11

    Jimmy eats that exact meal in Quadrophenia, I've always wondered what that florescent sauce was.

  • @YourContentSucks.
    @YourContentSucks. Před 6 měsíci +32

    1975: talking about The War like it was yesterday.
    2023: still talking about The War like it was yesterday.

    • @mypointofview1111
      @mypointofview1111 Před měsícem +1

      Except these days everyone under the age of 50 thinks it was all about food shortages. They cannot comprehend the level of physical devastation that went on across the world

    • @AdamBechtol
      @AdamBechtol Před měsícem

      :p

  • @adolphsanchez1429
    @adolphsanchez1429 Před rokem +56

    "Pie, parsley sauce, and jellied eels." It doesn't get more British than that.

    • @chetmanley1885
      @chetmanley1885 Před 6 měsíci

      Not really, you only find it in a pretty small area.
      Ask someone in the north of Essex about pie and mash and they won't have a clue.

    • @MaSoNGaMeR115
      @MaSoNGaMeR115 Před 5 měsíci +1

      @@chetmanley1885 completely untrue, actual londoners live all over essex now, it's one of the only places you'll find genuine london culture

    • @noramartin96
      @noramartin96 Před 4 měsíci

      The parsley sauce was called 'Liquor' .To me it looks ghastly but millions loved and still love it

    • @apebass2215
      @apebass2215 Před 2 měsíci

      ​@@simonsimon325 jellied eels are traditional in areas outside of London, particularly Kent and Essex. Coastal areas in the west of Britain also sell jellied eels as they're typically imported from Ireland.

    • @user-og2wt3le4j
      @user-og2wt3le4j Před 21 dnem

      Today they call the parsley sauce "Liquor."

  • @gavinmillar7519
    @gavinmillar7519 Před rokem +3

    What a brilliant little excerpt. Lovely.

  • @dawnlewis4891
    @dawnlewis4891 Před 3 měsíci +7

    Still go for a pie and mash...Selkirk Road, Tooting. Just introduced it to my eight month old great nephew, he loves a bit of mash and liquor 😂

  • @rjy8960
    @rjy8960 Před rokem +46

    This is a thing of beauty. I assume that this was taken from 35mm film? Brilliant job! Watching this was almost like being there. Thanks!

  • @chrisrovai9625
    @chrisrovai9625 Před 8 měsíci +11

    The last man is right...nothing can beat the divine delicious simplicity of smoked haddock and buttered bread

    • @georgemorley1029
      @georgemorley1029 Před 7 měsíci +1

      Craster kipper and the oil on a bit of toast for me.

    • @astrovarius543
      @astrovarius543 Před 5 měsíci +1

      How can you say that with all the rich diversity pouring into your country.
      Just think of the street slop you're missing out on.

  • @stephenguppy7882
    @stephenguppy7882 Před 5 měsíci +3

    I used to have smoked haddock with crusty bread and butter for tea at Grandma's house every Friday when I was a kid. Ahh, memories.

  • @guymorris6596
    @guymorris6596 Před rokem +22

    I'll pass on eating eels because I'm watching this for the history aspect. Now the pie, parsley sauce and mashed potatoes sound good.

  • @paul9511
    @paul9511 Před rokem +5

    Good day to all my brothers and sisters in the UK 🇦🇺🌹🙏.

  • @vinn3327
    @vinn3327 Před rokem +4

    Jellied eel n mash, was a part of my childhood I will never forget YUM

  • @davidbull7210
    @davidbull7210 Před rokem +6

    Love how he pronounced Aldgate.

  • @1DoctorMoo
    @1DoctorMoo Před rokem

    Thank you for posting this.

  • @johnboy1042
    @johnboy1042 Před rokem +1

    Still love my pie mash and liquor eels even today as a child I use to go harringtons in Tooting Broadway which is still going today

  • @BadYossa
    @BadYossa Před rokem +43

    The parsley sauce (liquor) is an acquired taste. Tried it a few times at the old place in Chapel Street market in Islington back the early '80's. It was served like a portion of soup. I was 17, so maybe my taste buds weren't geared up for it back then.

    • @jakubbarton1770
      @jakubbarton1770 Před rokem +6

      what does it taste like? I just imagined it being a parsley flavored gravy

    • @BadYossa
      @BadYossa Před rokem +11

      @@jakubbarton1770 it has a strong vinegar vibe and all the parsley that ever existed in it. I'm a chef and it's too much for my tastes!

    • @elwolf8536
      @elwolf8536 Před rokem +1

      More like flour liquer with a hint of parsley

    • @aleccastro4761
      @aleccastro4761 Před rokem +10

      been trying for 30+ years still haven't acquired the taste of it

    • @chetmanley1885
      @chetmanley1885 Před 6 měsíci +4

      I was weaned on it, my mum says it's the first solid food I ate (slightly dubious claim) but I've eaten it since I was little.
      Not sure it's an acquired taste, you like it or you don't.

  • @Twilight-cl3zc
    @Twilight-cl3zc Před rokem +7

    Bless him... he's so foodimentally good for his beloved London 🙏✌️❤️

    • @protectwhatisours6895
      @protectwhatisours6895 Před 3 měsíci

      I need to try Pie and Mash from one of these old places, if they’re still about.

  • @Mark-0O
    @Mark-0O Před 5 měsíci +2

    I live beside Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland and the eels here were sent to Billingsgate market in London and also to Amsterdam.

  • @bushwhackeddos.2703
    @bushwhackeddos.2703 Před 6 měsíci +1

    Been frequenting the same pie shop for 50 years, since my mother first took me at around 6 months old.

  • @dannyward673
    @dannyward673 Před rokem +10

    It’s an expensive treat pie & mash these days. I go Leytonstone or Canning Town if I fancy it. The grub was introduced to me by my nan & grandad who were born and raised eastenders, salt of the earth people.

  • @davidlister370
    @davidlister370 Před rokem +65

    That young lad at 1:01 looks absolutely fuming to be served eels and parsley sauce. Can't say I blame him!

    • @purefoldnz3070
      @purefoldnz3070 Před rokem +1

      rip young lad.

    • @Heaven-dy9lj
      @Heaven-dy9lj Před rokem +5

      It's Liquor not Parsley Sauce.

    • @blokeabouttown2490
      @blokeabouttown2490 Před rokem +5

      @@purefoldnz3070 He's probably still alive, he'd be in his late 60s by now.

    • @purefoldnz3070
      @purefoldnz3070 Před rokem +7

      @@blokeabouttown2490 depends on how much eels he had.

    • @ericmckinley7985
      @ericmckinley7985 Před rokem +2

      @@Heaven-dy9lj can you explain the difference for an American? Are they not both essentially a bechamel with parsley?

  • @naguerea
    @naguerea Před 2 měsíci

    What an absolute treat it has been to watch this vid. As a soldier I served lots with east Londoners and pie and mash is what they loved., I even ent there to try it for myself.

  • @Playsinvain
    @Playsinvain Před rokem +18

    Stunning and fascinating. It’s like from an alien planet

  • @ChorizoCentauri
    @ChorizoCentauri Před 4 měsíci +35

    The London everyone complained about is the London most of us long for today.
    London was tough, raw, and unique. It had a charm of authenticity. I truly abhor today's Disneylandesque-London.

    • @tmarritt
      @tmarritt Před 3 měsíci +1

      You are looking at the wrong parts of londong, there is a lot of what you are looking for in London, it's just not where it used to be.

    • @apebass2215
      @apebass2215 Před 2 měsíci +3

      ​@@tmarritt gentrification has pushed out working class communities and traditions, this has been reported for years.

    • @tmarritt
      @tmarritt Před 2 měsíci

      that's just the push and pull of London it's always happened always will happen and just changes. Idiot nimbys, old cunts complaining and young hipsters that don't realise they are the ones doing it.
      Just the natural cycle of any city.
      FFS my family used to live 12 in a room in a peasbody building in Soho in my granddad's day, think we should go back to that?
      Total rosy eyed bollocks.

    • @petermatthews2180
      @petermatthews2180 Před 2 měsíci +6

      Because there are hardly any native people born and bred in London anymore

    • @kraftyfrog
      @kraftyfrog Před 2 měsíci

      ​@@petermatthews2180 Exactly. Modern London is "Disneylandesque" only in that it's a chaotic, cultureless blob punctuated by violence perpetrated by imported Third Worlders.

  • @newspaperface
    @newspaperface Před rokem +9

    M Manze pie and eel shop on tower bridge road still looks like that Joyce's place from the start. Cheap too. If you dont like eels their pies are top drawer. Pay a visit if your in the area.

    • @grahamross6397
      @grahamross6397 Před rokem

      Was going to post similar.
      Thought I recognised the place in the first few minutes of this film.
      Hasn't changed much.
      Ate there last week.

    • @chetmanley1885
      @chetmanley1885 Před 6 měsíci

      I've only been to the Walthamstow one, and yeah that hasn't changed, they still chuck sawdust on the floor.

  • @simonlunt353
    @simonlunt353 Před rokem +19

    A lot of the old ways are gone now so sad 😞

  • @Drivingp
    @Drivingp Před rokem +3

    These are living history 👍

  • @Greg-fl4cb
    @Greg-fl4cb Před rokem +1

    Lovely documentary!

  • @PeterNorman-xd8tr
    @PeterNorman-xd8tr Před 3 měsíci

    Our late Mum loved jellied eels she was born in that era 1920s but memories for me as we went on a school trip to billingsgate like the men talking see Tower bridge in the background still follow the pie and mash shops that get posted on Facebook mainly Manzes.

  • @richardmullins1883
    @richardmullins1883 Před rokem +7

    I fkn love jellied eel and smoked haddock, pie n mash w mushy peas. Omg I miss home

  • @5argetech56
    @5argetech56 Před 6 měsíci +1

    Gives me the feeling of "Only Fools and Horses". Loved that series.

  • @stevenikitas8170
    @stevenikitas8170 Před rokem

    Love that old cash register... I remember them well from my youth.

  • @CorvoFG
    @CorvoFG Před rokem +3

    Used to frequent the one that still exists in Peckham. Pie, mash and liquor, I passed on the eels.

  • @adrinathegreat3095
    @adrinathegreat3095 Před 3 měsíci +4

    That little pot of jellied eels was 30p that's equal to £3.15 in today's money, I can remember a portion of chips costing 10p in 1975.

    • @user-og2wt3le4j
      @user-og2wt3le4j Před 21 dnem

      Same with fish and chips. They were cheaper in the mid-70s.

  • @darkarts59
    @darkarts59 Před rokem +1

    Nutrimental - Love that word.

  • @josephking1947
    @josephking1947 Před rokem +5

    I used to frequent that place as I worked in the area for 20 odd years, great memories

  • @jaywalker3087
    @jaywalker3087 Před rokem +3

    I remember eating cockles at Tubby's.
    I miss those days.

  • @rhythmjones
    @rhythmjones Před rokem +6

    The video: People in 1975 complaining about how life was better before.
    The comments: People in 2020 complaining that life was better in the video.

  • @cerneuffington2656
    @cerneuffington2656 Před rokem +17

    I love Smoked Haddock, but i'll give the rest of that muck a wide berth. My dad used to eat cockles and other stuff from seafood stalls, some of it had sand in 🤢

    • @maxpayneful4328
      @maxpayneful4328 Před rokem +2

      No crab, lobster, bass, prawns, cod, crawfish?
      All of these are must try’s

    • @poopbutt6241
      @poopbutt6241 Před rokem

      @@maxpayneful4328 go to Louisiana for that

    • @kahyui2486
      @kahyui2486 Před rokem

      That's strange cos smoked haddock Is one of the stinkiest fishes. It makes the whole house stink like a brothel

    • @cerneuffington2656
      @cerneuffington2656 Před rokem +2

      @@kahyui2486 😂

  • @sdg2185
    @sdg2185 Před 6 měsíci +20

    It's absolutely tragic seeing what modern London has been reduced to 😢

    • @bibo2445
      @bibo2445 Před 6 měsíci +4

      What's bad about it? That you have food that doesn't look like someone's vomit? Or that it doesn't look like dresden after the bombs fell?

    • @MaSoNGaMeR115
      @MaSoNGaMeR115 Před 5 měsíci

      @@bibo2445 not quite worht third world crime rates for rape and murder brought by third world people

    • @user-og2wt3le4j
      @user-og2wt3le4j Před 21 dnem +2

      Overpriced Vegan restaurants and Indian food.

    • @christianjesse8980
      @christianjesse8980 Před 9 dny

      ⁠just a good old dogwhistle brother

  • @spidyman8853
    @spidyman8853 Před rokem +14

    In the days before Mac Ds

  • @garrywillits8025
    @garrywillits8025 Před rokem +26

    Better for you than any take away food today I suspect. I used to visit pie and mash cafes whilst a teacher in the east end in the early nineties - wish I'd had the courage to try the eels - (coincidentally my favourite band )

    • @vercingetorixwulf9298
      @vercingetorixwulf9298 Před rokem +1

      Stewed eels are delicious. Jellied, please don't bother .......

    • @GEricG
      @GEricG Před rokem

      I'd say so.

    • @Tee12343
      @Tee12343 Před rokem +7

      Uk number one food is Indian then chinness ,fish an chips is way down the list and jellied eels don't even make the list 😆

    • @chucky2316
      @chucky2316 Před rokem +2

      @@Tee12343 you can stick Chinese and Indian even modern fish and chips shops greasy. Jellied eels for me

    • @tenzaemtade6146
      @tenzaemtade6146 Před rokem

      @@Tee12343 too bad Indian people aren't as hyped as much as their food are. And what is chinness?

  • @williamsmiler184
    @williamsmiler184 Před rokem

    Fascinating!

  • @johnny5805
    @johnny5805 Před rokem

    Joyce's Pie n Mash Shop was at 20 Tower Bridge Rd, Bermondsey SE1. Go have a goosey in streetview to see how it's all changed.

  • @sophrapsune
    @sophrapsune Před rokem +4

    This is absolute gold.

  • @petervlcko4858
    @petervlcko4858 Před rokem +4

    At Walthamstow there is still to this days pie canteen, which serve pies, with mush and liquor. You can pay just by cash and food is good. You will find it close to Lidl at opposite side of the open market. Go and check if you have not done yet.

    • @ruff1draft
      @ruff1draft Před 10 měsíci

      Thanks for this information

    • @petervlcko4858
      @petervlcko4858 Před 10 měsíci

      @@ruff1draft unfortunately they closed. Corona was one of the main factor. 🙁 they were open like 30 years or something like that. It’s gone

    • @ruff1draft
      @ruff1draft Před 10 měsíci +1

      @@petervlcko4858 What oh no that is sad news to hear.

    • @MaSoNGaMeR115
      @MaSoNGaMeR115 Před 5 měsíci

      mayeb they should've laundered money for heroin dealers they could've stayed open like the chicken shops do.

  • @businessgoose4883
    @businessgoose4883 Před 6 měsíci +1

    I just checked on Google maps, this shop is still there 🥳

  • @johnwalton2019
    @johnwalton2019 Před rokem +40

    1970s film showing how London was changing from the old days. 01:39 Lou Hart, Old Billingsgate eel and shellfish specialist for many year. My Dad portered for Lou in the late 1960s and early 1970s at the old market which would have been in it final days when this film was taken. In the pan shot of the market in the film you can see the old buildings starting to make way for new offices. Market finally moved to Poplar in January 1982 after almost a 1,000 years of trading in it's City of London location. I also fear Tubby Isaacs' (not his real name in this film, think it was Solly?), prediction that we will always east jellied eels isn't correct - London is now ironically seeing more pie shops close and move out to Essex, Herts and the Home Counties as more and more old Londoners see out there days...not many kids in those places eating jellied eels though!

    • @1421davidm
      @1421davidm Před rokem

      Hi mate, did your dad know Jack McCarthy , my dad ?

  • @Justino_de_Paula
    @Justino_de_Paula Před 6 měsíci +5

    My Dad was a fish merchant in Bristol, I remember often going with him to the Old Billingsgate in his lorry when I was on school holidays. I'm so glad I got to see it. It's a different world now. A poorer world.

    • @Klonkus
      @Klonkus Před 6 měsíci

      Your generation is the reason everything is so ruined now. Absolutely venomous mentality that comes from you people, you'll piss and burn everything away so the next generation doesn't even have a pot to piss in.

  • @larrynintendo6838
    @larrynintendo6838 Před rokem +13

    I HOPE one day i can try this for myself! Always been fascinated by it!

    • @shaunwild8797
      @shaunwild8797 Před rokem +2

      I thought that and one day I had the chance to try them in Cromer. Never again. lol.

    • @larrynintendo6838
      @larrynintendo6838 Před rokem +1

      @@shaunwild8797 Hahaha that is hilarious! I have very odd taste in food so I am hoping I love it.

    • @shaunwild8797
      @shaunwild8797 Před rokem +1

      @@larrynintendo6838 I'm not a fussy eater and will try anything. I even ate Surstromming once but will never ever try jellied eels again.

    • @H4CK61
      @H4CK61 Před rokem +1

      @@larrynintendo6838 Try stewed first mate then jellied you wont be dissapointed.

    • @larrynintendo6838
      @larrynintendo6838 Před rokem

      @@H4CK61 Thanks for the tip! Eel just seems really delicious!

  • @hunyesmith03
    @hunyesmith03 Před rokem

    Oooh I love jellied eels, and proper English pie and mash. But there’s only one traditional pie and mash shop near me [camden, if you know it you know it, been there for almost a century) and no jellied eel vans like their used to be when I was young even.

  • @cambs0181
    @cambs0181 Před rokem

    I love jellied eels, not everyones taste but I can never get enough of them. Nice dose of omega 3 and protein.

  • @halfgingeralehalfgin
    @halfgingeralehalfgin Před rokem +4

    I love mackerel and eel sushi rolls. Those english dishes look delicious!

  • @EndChineseGenocide
    @EndChineseGenocide Před 6 měsíci +3

    Its like another world

  • @chrissyboy2401
    @chrissyboy2401 Před měsícem

    I'm from North London and worked in East London,Dalston in the 90's,on my lunch break I walked up Dalston High Rd and used to get a quick pie from the pie shop for my lunch and they had a metal container on the outside window with live eels in it and they'd cut them up fresh if you ordered them and served with jelly,never had them but the pies were delicious and a great London tradition.

  • @JulieWallis1963
    @JulieWallis1963 Před rokem

    “It’s busy”
    One old dear in the queue next to him.
    I love pie n mash served with liquor and lots of vinegar. I still get mine via the internet (I’ve long since left london)

    • @kaitlyn__L
      @kaitlyn__L Před rokem

      Still, most seats looked full, when it might’ve had only one or two customers a day. Not bursting, but ticking over nicely still at that time

  • @EBOWARRIOR
    @EBOWARRIOR Před 6 měsíci +9

    Tried Jellied eels once and could not stomach it, Smoked eels however are amazing but I am surprised more places don't sell it.

    • @peterkiedron8949
      @peterkiedron8949 Před 5 měsíci

      Smoked eels are delicacy. Still recognized as such in Scandinavia and Central Europe.

  • @mhicnanolc
    @mhicnanolc Před rokem +24

    Not sure about eels, but smoked haddock is still widely enjoyed in Atlantic Canada. It’s delicious!

    • @emilydavison2053
      @emilydavison2053 Před rokem +5

      Traditional in kedgeree - a British/Indian dish.

    • @AMPProf
      @AMPProf Před 6 měsíci

      so is clam juice...surprised eel is not in the poutine

    • @jonathanlandau-litewski7405
      @jonathanlandau-litewski7405 Před 4 měsíci

      @@emilydavison2053 kedegree! Now that's something I have not had in years! Thank you for reminding me of it, it's gorgeous. I must now search my city for somewhere that sells it 😊

  • @NR-qx6ld
    @NR-qx6ld Před měsícem

    Beautiful old London❤❤❤
    Love jellied eels.

  • @geoffjoffy
    @geoffjoffy Před rokem +3

    I remember those days. I was 13.

    • @RuthvenMurgatroyd
      @RuthvenMurgatroyd Před 3 měsíci

      At the risk of sounding rude, your profile picture looks nowhere near 62 and is clearly the product of an AI.

  • @donaldpyper4627
    @donaldpyper4627 Před rokem +3

    Wow amazing to think this isn’t that old - yet these people and thier food etc have been completely replaced now.

  • @MDL_79
    @MDL_79 Před 5 měsíci

    We used to have this place that was a pie-and-mash shop by me townhome. They used to serve eels there. Live eels wriggling around inside your belly exploring your organs. Finding an entrance where they can.

  • @sicks6six
    @sicks6six Před 5 měsíci

    I lived near a eel and pie shop in stoke Newington just along from Chas & Dave's pub. People would come out the pub and go in the eel shop for their tea\supper. Always busy. Wonder if it's still there. Probably a kebab shop now as every other shop on that street was either a pizza or kebab shop.

  • @jakedeane5304
    @jakedeane5304 Před rokem +39

    Hard pressed to find real east Enders nowadays

  • @Viscount_Castlereagh
    @Viscount_Castlereagh Před rokem +3

    I would love to go to London some time and try some Pie and Mash with Jellied Eels.

    • @GargantuanD
      @GargantuanD Před rokem +7

      London isn't like this anymore

    • @onionhat745
      @onionhat745 Před rokem +3

      London is no longer English.

    • @chetmanley1885
      @chetmanley1885 Před 6 měsíci

      Don't listen to the idiots in the replies. Pie and mash shops still exist, some even deliver.

    • @MaSoNGaMeR115
      @MaSoNGaMeR115 Před 5 měsíci

      londoners live in essex

    • @MaSoNGaMeR115
      @MaSoNGaMeR115 Před 5 měsíci +1

      @@chetmanley1885 why are you lying to people? name one single street in london that has entirely english residents, when this was filmed it would've been over 90% of them, now its 0, unless you can name just ONE, should be easy if we're all lying.

  • @anonosaurus4517
    @anonosaurus4517 Před 5 měsíci +2

    The England that was. I would loved to have experienced it.

  • @FrithonaHrududu02127
    @FrithonaHrududu02127 Před 2 měsíci +1

    Im a 48 year old American yet somehow i feel nostalgic for this. Like I actually had to remind myself that i have no real nostalgia for this. But i wish i did.