It's #piDay2023...so let's talk about eel pie!
Eel pie has been an important English food for a long time. Medieval cookbooks often included eel pie recipes, & everyone from peasants to kings at them.
In 1256, Henry III demanded eel pies from his bailiff at Fetcham! 1/8
Eel pie was so common that not knowing how to cook one was recognized sign of stupidity. In King Lear, there's a cook who was so far gone that she tried to eels in the pie w/o killing them first.
It doesn't mean much to us, but Shakespeare's audience knew better.
Hilarious! 2/8
Over time, eel pie became associated w/ London. Pie & mash shops were common, esp. in the East End, & there were several hundred in 19th century.
There aren't many left now, & E. End eel pies are kinda a tourist food. But you can still find an eel pie if you really need one. 3/8
Upstream from London is Eel Pie Island, which is famous for...well...it's eel pies! There's a legend that the name of the island comes from the time Henry VIII, on a boat ride upriver, stopped at the island & demanded pies.
It's a fun story, but probably not true. 4/8
Eel Pie Island wasn't just famous for eels pies. It was also well-known for live music. Many famous people, including Charles Dickens, frequented the island, both for its eels & its music.
Dickens wrote that it was a great place to dance to the music of a locomotive band. 5/8
That tradition continued! The island was important in the history of blues & rock in the 1950s & '60s. Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Who, Eric Clapton all played at the Eel Pie Island Hotel.
The hotel has burned down, but there's still @eelpiemuseum. 6/8
So today, as you're celebrating endless numbers and tucking into your favorite fruit pie, spare a thought for eels, too. Put on some Stones, kick back, and raise a glass to the eel pie: the pie that Henry III loved and that helped bring you rock 'n' roll. 7/8
And, if you really want to celebrate the day in style, you can order an Eeel Pi shirt, or mug, or just about anything else from "A Surprise of Eels!"
Who wouldn't want @grenouille781's wonderful eels helping to bring the day to life? /fin
redbubble.com/shop/ap/874373…
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