28/05/2026
🗄️This set of eel trays was once used in the famous F. Cooke's Eel, Pie and Mash Shop at 9 Broadway Market, originally opened by Frederick Cooke in 1900.
Since the mid-19th century, pie and mash shops have been an iconic staple for London. F Cooke's Eel, Pie and Mash was a family run business which helped define East End food culture in London for many generations. During their heyday in the mid 1900s, there were around 12 shops running across London, including on Kingsland Road in Dalston and Hoxton Street.
One of the delicacies served in the shops were eels, which were a popular street food since the 1800s. Eels were cheaper than red meat and were a standard snack for working class Londoners. These eels were commonly served stewed or jellied.
The eels served in pie and mash shops were caught in the Thames or were imported from countries like the Netherlands. They were stored in eel trays which were kept at the back of the shop with a continuous flow of water from water tanks to keep them alive and fresh.
In 2020, after 120 years of service, Broadway Market's F Cooke's shop closed its doors for the final time, leaving the Hoxton Street shop as the last Cooke shop left open today.
Images:
🗄️Set of eel trays from F. Cooke's Eel, Pie and Mash Shop, Hackney Museum 2026.21
📸 Shopfront of ‘F.COOKE, LIVE EEL IMPORTER' at 41 Kingsland High Street, famously known as ‘the Buckingham Palace of Pie & Mash shops’. Courtesy of Chris Cooke.
📸Workers preparing jellied eels in the kitchen of F. Cooke's eel pie and mash shop in Hackney. Courtesy of Fred Cooke.
👜Paper bag for F. Cooke & Sons on Kingsland Road. Hackney Museum 1997.29
🏮Lantern that was displayed outside Cooke's Eel Pie and Mash shop on Kingsland High Street. Hackney Museum 1997.27
