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

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.
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[@Elrond_Hubbard_1]

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

[@tmarritt]

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]

when this was filmed they came from newfoundland

[@wilmh9586]

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

[@1421davidm]

Lou Hart, better man than you.

[@Elrond_Hubbard_1]

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

[@jogsamson]

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

[@rebeccanater]

Not even a thumbprint

[@lucascoval828]

That Munchies callback! 😁

[@xyz-ns7ym]

Haha

[@MrGnarlybirdman]

Is this the same Shop?

[@ATY676]

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?

[@sandro9237]

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

[@turnip5359]

LMAO

[@vogelvogeltje]

Gay joke? 😂😂😂

[@kgrimes4934]

Dude!!! 🤣🤣🤣. Why so mean?

[@FN_FAL_4_ever]

Fresh from the streets of Sussex they are! 😅

[@KeeperOfSecrets-42069]

Lol

[@nikamota]

"..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]

Excuse me

[@Angelicala]

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

[@UnIimited_Power]

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

[@Angelicala]

@unlimited_power. Sounds painful 😓

[@johnferry7778]

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]

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]

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

[@BBCBOY919]

i love getting uck@@sugarfish6722

[@garyk1334]

​@@sugarfish6722Spinkychops is clueless

[@newbleppmore7855]

Native population wiped out in London

[@the_terrorizer]

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

[@Jack-bx3ow]

And how about that bright green liquid?

[@the_terrorizer]

@@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_]

@@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]

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

[@hellfirepictures]

@@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.

[@horsenuts1831]

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]

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

[@ssgssbeet4133]

Im american but read this in a thick english accent

[@parlay-music]

@@ssgssbeet4133 cool

[@ssgssbeet4133]

@@parlay-music thanks

[@briangleason5597]

Dam good Eating. Eels and pies.

[@dorndy1]

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]

He sounds like the Hitcher from Mighty Boosh

[@dorndy1]

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

[@0PsychosisMedia0]

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

[@biggdogg6196]

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

[@0scarisaiah]

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

[@jasonhewlett1283]

Great to see old London !

[@Silfverr]

Better days. Better people.

[@andrewferrier3351]

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]

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]

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]

For the Sydney oysters are you referring to American dollars

[@aurelmatthews4164]

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]

@@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.

[@traceya9615]

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

[@johngough2958]

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]

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

[@jessicatorretto159]

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]

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]

Yep

[@astroboirap]

lmao @ nutrimental

[@davewalker7126]

'neutrimental' food indeed

[@Zlervo]

😂😂😂

[@charlesbrown1628]

The most nutrimental food there is

[@FriedEggsWithChips]

Looks delicious!

[@chucky2316]

Better for you than kebab, wraps

[@FriedEggsWithChips]

@@chucky2316 High in protein. Yep, looks good to me! 👍

[@--pussypatroll--]

I could watch gems like this all day long.

[@britturk123]

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

[@johnbarry1965]

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!!

[@Initium1000]

Your cuisine is horrible. Absolutely horrible

[@ethanp5215]

Do you make your own liquor?

[@johnbarry1965]

@@ethanp5215 Sure do!!

[@paulohlsen3332]

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

[@Merlin_Price]

Cor, Blimey!

[@kidkieran77]

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

[@darkarts59]

Quite.

[@pigglewiggle175]

OK kid.

[@grimjim1599]

It's more like the middle east these days

[@acropolisnow9466]

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

[@Miniver765]

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

[@jamesphlames7498]

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]

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

[@jamesphlames7498]

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

[@judohondaboiii]

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

[@SamTheManWhoCanTwice]

@@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]

@@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.

[@SGProductions87]

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]

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]

@@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.

[@bushwhackeddos.2703]

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

[@jomatuazon]

Love how dapper that seafood/jellied eels vendor looks!

[@noramartin96]

Yes Tubby Isaacs was very famous at his stall in Aldgate

[@stephenguppy7882]

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.

[@dawnlewis4891]

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 😂

[@olivier_desmet]

Harrington’s!

[@adolphsanchez1429]

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

[@chetmanley1885]

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]

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

[@noramartin96]

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

[@apebass2215]

​@@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]

Today they call the parsley sauce "Liquor."

[@carlkamuti]

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

[@vinn3327]

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

[@chrisrovai9625]

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

[@georgemorley1029]

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

[@astrovarius543]

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.

[@almiles6922]

Sort of wish times were still like this

[@Paulatthedisco]

No thanks

[@jimmelton5846]

London is a shithole now.

[@vertigo10yearsago25]

No , so many were poor at this time , London was a shithole and was still recovering from ww2

[@annother3350]

It was a tough, gruelling life

[@philbe2482]

Back when America was still great.

[@hetrodoxly1203]

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]

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

[@croonyerzoonyer]

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

[@hetrodoxly1203]

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

[@AudioJellyfish]

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

[@BVargas78]

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.

[@bertiescunsbutch9323]

Blair.

[@seanjones180]

​@@bertiescunsbutch9323Thatcher

[@dabin88]

@@bertiescunsbutch9323Bliar lol

[@nolickspittle4753]

@@bertiescunsbutch9323 Exactly! It peaked in the 1980s and then downhill since!

[@JustDaniel6764]

Tony Blair

[@jcs3330]

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]

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

[@pnelancslad9771]

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

[@AN-ed8qq]

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]

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]

@@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]

@@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]

@@Zooumberg I also love whelks.

[@Zooumberg]

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

[@rhythmjones]

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.

[@paul9511]

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

[@ChorizoCentauri]

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]

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]

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

[@tmarritt]

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]

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

[@kraftyfrog]

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

[@tazzatamania]

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

[@davidbull7210]

Love how he pronounced Aldgate.

[@IronMonkeySounds]

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]

That definitely sounds more appetising than cold in jelly

[@patrick-bu3eq]

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]

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]

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

[@froggin-zp4nr]

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

[@blackcitroenlove]

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.

[@stephenscales353]

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

[@Hellomynameis93]

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

[@tonypine3434]

You can get jellied eels in the poppies off commercial street

[@davefave4351]

Served on a Redland 49 roofing tile...

[@TheFanatical1]

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

[@georgerobartes2008]

Try Cookes in Hoxton St , been there for ever .

[@Mark-0O]

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

[@guymorris6596]

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.

[@stephenord3403]

Such wonderful characters, sadly gone now 😢

[@phillpidgeon8961]

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

[@holdingtonfarley4444]

Not really, I think we've outgrown them

[@user-gs7iw6kl7o]

@@holdingtonfarley4444 londonstan is dirty

[@iandeare1]

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]

Who did he go to France with?

[@iandeare1]

​@@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]

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

[@iandeare1]

@@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]

@@iandeare1 thats awesome!

[@rjy8960]

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!

[@elijahmodnar1]

16mm or super16mm

[@jannalyzer3944]

We might have already been here. Swimming with our dad's sack

[@gavinmillar7519]

What a brilliant little excerpt. Lovely.

[@davidlister370]

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

[@purefoldnz3070]

rip young lad.

[@Heaven-dy9lj]

It's Liquor not Parsley Sauce.

[@blokeabouttown2490]

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

[@purefoldnz3070]

@@blokeabouttown2490 depends on how much eels he had.

[@ericmckinley7985]

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

[@richardmullins1883]

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

[@adrinathegreat3095]

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]

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

[@WolfDaddy420]

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]

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

[@simonlunt353]

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

[@newspaperface]

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]

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]

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

[@CorvoFG]

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

[@dannyward673]

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.

[@Twilight-cl3zc]

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

[@protectwhatisours6895]

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

[@Playsinvain]

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

[@5argetech56]

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

[@tomstarwalker]

Eel is a priced fish here in Finland. It's a five star meal.

[@BadYossa]

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]

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

[@BadYossa]

@@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]

More like flour liquer with a hint of parsley

[@aleccastro4761]

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

[@chetmanley1885]

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.

[@kinomusic9110]

Now it's curry and stabbings.

[@djpeekay25]

Then it was jellied eels and armed bank robberies.

[@shanemathews4177]

Lol

[@JT883]

Would LoL if it wasn't true...and very very sad. Why is Britain commiting suicide???

[@markbishop1588]

My mate was stabbed in an Indian takeaway.Went to hospital to visit but they wouldn't let me see him as he was still in a korma.

[@GaryFalcon-rs5uy]

Get woke, go fy

[@darkarts59]

Nutrimental - Love that word.

[@naguerea]

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.

[@YourContentSucks.]

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

[@mypointofview1111]

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]

:p

[@spidyman8853]

In the days before Mac Ds

[@sophrapsune]

This is absolute gold.

[@johnboy1042]

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

[@jakedeane5304]

Hard pressed to find real east Enders nowadays

[@antman5474]

They're in Essex.

[@Joshua-jj4xn]

Incorrect

[@chucky2316]

Were all in the westcountry lol, guess what I ate today whelks yum yum

[@thejoin4687]

They got out of her pub

[@kahyui2486]

Haha

[@tmarritt]

Jellied ells are to expensive so he had to supplement his income sell cheap shell fish..... How the world has changed

[@FrithonaHrududu02127]

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.

[@instrumentalplay8098]

Bought a tear to my eye I remember my parents talking about tubby Isaacs many years ago

[@ctcurry1777]

The only pie and liquor shop I know that's left in London is in Shepherds Bush...and the last time I went there was 20 years ago. I expect some poncy restaurants do it at a ridiculous price.

[@festavision]

Their's still a few left in London, my local called 'Cockneys' still going strong but soon one day unfortunately we can see they'll be a thing of the past.

[@annother3350]

@@festavision no, the tourists love the pie and mash. Its a good business opportunity

[@MrMachiavelli]

There's one in Peckham

[@djpeekay25]

It closed down a few years ago. We have 2 pie and mash shops in Ruislip

[@tonypine3434]

There's Cockneys on Portobello Road

[@larrynintendo6838]

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

[@shaunwild8797]

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

[@larrynintendo6838]

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

[@shaunwild8797]

@@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]

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

[@larrynintendo6838]

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

[@london2resistance]

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

[@eemoogee160]

7:14 Father eats the fish. Mother sneaks what she can while preparing the meal, and the children get bread with the broth. Something brutal about that, and it isn't just the poverty.

[@jshaw4757]

Dad needs the strength he's earning the money else they would have nothing at all..

[@IMeMineWho]

@@jshaw4757 The mom.is taking care of the kids though. That's work too. And children need to grow.

[@jshaw4757]

@@IMeMineWho Yh I know I was kinda half joking but that's just how it was at that time period in some places n peoples..personally everything I would ever get would be shared equally but sometimes it really was that bad thst it would make sense too give the father the larger portion as like I said they wouldn't even have a home too live in or bread or anything..not taking anything away from the mother raising the kids but the mothers thought this way too "Your dad's getting the bigger plate coz he's got too go too work"...that sorta thing..cheers

[@cableguy786]

And he still has fond memories about eating bread crust

[@sarahlouise7163]

yeah and the kids got rickets there is definitely more to this “dad first” attitude than poverty i bet plenty of dad’s wouldn’t eat the lot, knowing their kids were going without

[@geoffjoffy]

I remember those days. I was 13.

[@RuthvenMurgatroyd]

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

[@sassy_brit1975]

What a superb clip 🥰❤🇬🇧 love watching stuff like this, back to better days in many ways, proper eastenders & lots of cockney slang & old london grub X

[@cerneuffington2656]

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]

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

[@poopbutt6241]

@@maxpayneful4328 go to Louisiana for that

[@kahyui2486]

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

[@cerneuffington2656]

@@kahyui2486 😂

[@sarahlouise7163]

you’d think dad might share his fish 🤣

[@AN-ed8qq]

I was thinking the same!!

[@heycidskyja4668]

Absolutely not! The man of the house needs to show the rest what's what 🤣

[@RuthvenMurgatroyd]

What? Isn't a working man entitled to come home to all of the roasted haddock that he's paying for? I'm sure the boys got to share a piece of the haddock once in a while and perhaps on holidays too 😂

[@josephking1947]

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

[@jaywalker3087]

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

[@allouttabubblegum1984]

The skin of the haddock is the best tasting fish skin I've ever had in my life!

[@Drivingp]

These are living history 👍

[@petervlcko4858]

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]

Thanks for this information

[@petervlcko4858]

@@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]

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

[@MaSoNGaMeR115]

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

[@businessgoose4883]

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

[@donaldpyper4627]

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

[@colonelturmeric558]

By diversity:/

[@johnwalton2019]

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]

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

[@garrywillits8025]

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]

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

[@GEricG]

I'd say so.

[@Tee12343]

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]

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

[@tenzaemtade6146]

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

[@samjamster5448]

It's really no wonder why the brits invested so much into conquering places with spices.

[@anonosaurus4517]

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

[@PaulWalshp-wx4in]

FEKKIN BEAUTIFUL 👌👌

[@richardbritain7435]

You can still get jellied eels in Southend. They are actually very nice.

[@garryleeks4848]

Got one in Braintree , I never tried jellied eels 😬

[@richardbritain7435]

@@garryleeks4848 we didn't know what they even were really, or what to expect. They were so nice we went back the next day to get more. On the prom at Southend.

[@garryleeks4848]

@@richardbritain7435 are you from Southend

[@emorelix]

Can we take a moment to look at the camera work at 2:13. Can you imagine the camera that some dude had to manipulate, whilst on the ground that low?

[@Pitmirk_]

London struggled on, there were still gems like this, but in the last ten years has plummeted and in the last 3 plunged

[@halfgingeralehalfgin]

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

[@sdg2185]

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

[@bibo2445]

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]

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

[@user-og2wt3le4j]

Overpriced Vegan restaurants and Indian food.

[@christianjesse8980]

⁠just a good old dogwhistle brother

[@john1606ful]

I can't understand why loads of people say they won't eat eels , stewed or jellied , an eel is a fish , so what's the problem

[@123Jim91]

I would prefer them grilled or fried though.

[@Tigerdriver91Academy]

Most people don't find jellied eels pleasant nor appetizing. There's better food options.

[@pavelbindas]

The owner in a straw hat, bow tie and a suit under the cape...old school in the best sense of the word!

[@enochschildren5337]

And multiculturalism is our strength 🫡

[@mhicnanolc]

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

[@emilydavison2053]

Traditional in kedgeree - a British/Indian dish.

[@AMPProf]

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

[@jonathanlandau-litewski7405]

@@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 😊