Our Annual Pie & Mash Pop-Up at Cornman Farms

British street food to warm up the final weeks of winter

In the spring of 2024, BBC’s Paul Howard wrote,

While I live ever more distant from my London birthplace, that doesn’t wholly quell its siren call. There are many things I don’t miss, but one thing I crave is Pie and Mash, proper authentic London food. There is, sadly, an ever-dwindling collection of emporia in London in which to eat it. So much so that this culinary and cultural delight is becoming an endangered species.

Around these parts, Cornman Farms is doing its best to stand up for what’s possible. In Washtenaw County, pie and mash is anything but endangered!

Nearly 10 years ago, what began as an unfamiliar—“imported from England”—idea has since become a Cornman Farms classic. Regulars wait all year for these remarkable, handmade English pies, served with a generous helping of mashed potatoes or other hearty root vegetables. A few folks who come to get them, I know, have English roots, and for them, like the BBC’s Paul Howard, Pie & Mash makes for a comforting taste of “home” cooking. For others, Pie & Mash has become the “thing to do” this time of year! Many families have made Pie & Mash part of their March meal routine. As Tabitha Mason, co-managing partner at Cornman Farms, offers, “We love it! We’ve built a real community with expats around southeast Michigan. They love coming for a meal that reminds them of home (and I love the accents!).”

If the home is really where the heart is, then there’s a serious piece of London’s East End emerging over at Cornman. While our main work at the Farm is, of course, throwing really cool events (wonderful big weddings, terrific Tiny Weddings, great business conclaves, hosting special meals, etc.), we have this subtext of terrific little side stories running throughout the year. While NCAA basketball has its own madness in March, around here, it’s all about Pie & Mash.

If you get Kieron talking about Pie & Mash—even for just a moment—you’ll immediately catch his enthusiasm. This isn’t just something to sell, it’s his sort of soul food. While it’s still relatively new here in southeastern Michigan, pie and mash is old school in England. The dish dates to the late 19th century, developed first in London—many say it’s one of the only English foods that truly originated in the city—primarily from the east and southeast parts of town.

Given the profusion of pollution (massive pollution was already a big problem in the early years of the Industrial Revolution), those parts of the city where the winds didn’t naturally clear the air well became the city’s poorer neighborhoods. And given the abundance of working-class anarchists in the area at the time, it’s pretty likely that many an adherent of Peter Kropotkin’s advocacy for mutual aid—which he discussed in his 1902 classic of the same name—ate pie and mash quite regularly.

Originally, English pies of the kind Kieron is making at Cornman Farms were created as street food—vendors pushed carts and sold them from the curb. The first pies were usually filled with eel from the River Thames, one of the few fish that could survive the heavily polluted waters. Over time, meat fillings gradually became more popular and any meat that could be obtained and afforded was used. Pie and mash was filling and inexpensive—perfect fare for a working-class neighborhood. At the turn of the 20th century, there were about 100 pie shops in London. They were basically Cockney comfort food. The mashed potatoes that came with each pie were a good and affordable way to fill out the meal.

Last summer, writing for The New York Times, Demi Perera said, “Traditional shops still hand-make every part of the dish and serve it with mash scraped to the side of the plate with a parsley sauce known as liquor.” We are one of those. Super tasty, and hard to find. Wholly moly, distinctly unordinary.

Thanks to Kieron’s passion, we get to have this old English tradition without going all the way to London. Here’s this year’s Pie & Mash lineup:

March 4: Ham, Leek & Cheddar Pie – Smoky ham, sweet leeks, and salty English cheddar

March 11: Roasted Chicken & Bacon Pie – Roasted chicken, crispy bacon, and potatoes, smothered in a sauce made from chicken stock, cream, and honey

March 18: Steak & Ale Pie – Tender beef and root vegetables simmered in a rich, dark ale

March 25: Samosa Pie – Soft peas, mashed potatoes, and warm spices

Every week, the pie comes with traditional parsley sauce, mashed potatoes, a seasonal vegetable, and Kieron’s Scottish Shortbread for dessert. Pies are only available by pre-order; when you pick them up, you have the option of taking your pies home or eating them inside the award-winning, lovingly restored barn!

Procure your pies