mash

Andy Green, who founded the Modern Cockney Festival, said obtaining the status "may kickstart a fresh look from government agencies and public bodies to recognise the tradition and culture that pie 'n' mash represents".

Mr Green said its Cockney identity had spread further than the traditional areas of east and south London, marked by the spread of pie 'n' and mash shops, from Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire to Tunbridge Wells in Kent.

Mr Holden said he has written to more than 40 MPs who have a pie 'n' mash shop in their constituency, adding: "It's part of a campaign to celebrate and really promote pie and mash, which has spread out from its beginnings in central and east London, down the Thames Gateway and out into the world."

The dish has also been immortalised in EastEnders, with Beale's Eels Pie & Mash House.

Now an Essex MP is to lead a parliamentary debate calling for traditional pie 'n' mash with liquor to get protected status, like champagne and Cornish Pasties.