Sutton Bridge man Nick Maguire cooks up pie and mash market from home
A Sutton Bridge father-of-two is bringing an "authentic" East End of London flavour to the area.
Nick Maguire (47), otherwise known as "The Crazy Pie Guy" is seeing demand explode for his carefully crafted version of "pie, mash and liquor".
In fact, sales of the seemingly simple dish are so strong that Nick finalising plans to open his own shop in Long Sutton later this month.
Nick, who also runs his own fibre glass, plastering and mould making supplies business, said: "There's a massive following for pie and mash in London because it's staple food that's cheap, easy to come by, full of proteins and really tasty.
"In 2015, I applied to the BBC for a place on a show called 'The Box', hosted by Mary Berry and James Martin.
"You were given a box that was unlabelled and you didn't find out what in it until you lifted the lid.
"There were two rounds and, for one of them, I was given a box that had inside it one slab of puff pastry, a vanilla pod, apple and pear.
"I decided to make an apple and pear tart, with custard, and when Mary Berry tasted it, she said it was amongst the nicest puddings she had ever tasted.
"So when I came home, I thought: 'One day, I'm going to do something different with food.'"
Nick Maguire cooks his 'authentic' pie and mash meal at home in Sutton Bridge. Photo: SG-110619-084TW
But rather than invent a sweet dish all of his own, Nick decided instead to reconstruct a meal from his childhood.
He said: "My dad was a fibrous plasterer in London and one day, he bought our family pies and mash from the oldest shop of of its type in London.
"But when we tried it, the meal didn't taste like how I remembered it.
"So I decided to make it myself, figuring out how it was cooked, what pastry to us and how to make the liquor.
"Then I threw something together for my mum and dad to taste, continuing to do so until I got to the point where they said: 'We can't fault it'".
It was his father's death last summer, nearly ten years after Nick and his family moved to Sutton Bridge from London, that was the trigger for Maguire's Pie and Mash to become a business.
"The dish itself is made up of a dry beef pie that doesn't have gravy inside of it, a scrape of mashed potato and parsley-based gravy as the liquor.
"Last Friday, we took 20 online orders for the dish which was when my sister suggested that I should to publicise it on social media.
"Before we knew it, we had 100 meals going out the door and I knew then that I could open a shop.
"The feedback I've had is that my dish is 'authentic London pie and mash' and 'you're not going to get better than this.'
"I've now got a business, not a flash-in-the-pan thing, and the draw for this could be over a 40 to 50-mile radius because there are an awful lot of people have moved up here from London.
"The South Holland/West Norfolk/Fenland area is almost a nerve centre for migration from London, made up of people who want more of a quiet, rural life.
"These people are my customers because they have eaten authentic pie and mash in London.
"But now it's going to be on their doorstep."
. The origins of the pie and mash meal are thought to date back to the 18th century when “Eel, Pie and Mash Houses” were popular places for a cheap, but satisfying dinner.
However, the first pies were filled with eels (rather than meat) as they cost relatively little and could be caught in the River Thames, thus the reason why pie and mash was popular in London.
Nick Maguire’s business is based on the current interpretation of pie, mash and liquor.
This consists of a baked minced beef pie, with mashed potato and parsley gravy.
It is traditional for the pie and mash to be covered with the liquor, before applying a touch of salt, pepper and vinegar, although some shops offer pickled chillies as well.
. Taste test by Spalding Today reporter Winston Brown
A minced beef pie, mashed potato and parsley gravy could never fill this reporter’s stomach, could it?
Nick Maguire’s take on a simple, but surprisingly popular meal was not my idea of a main course.
But no top-up meal was needed as what Nick called his “one-on-one single” dish proved adequately filling.
The liquor complemented the other elements, once a little salt and vinegar were added, and the mash did exactly what you would expect.
However, the star of Nick’s dish was definitely the delicious pie.
