Do you want liquor with that?

Three years ago when the interviews were held for the post of vicar of St James and St Anne's, Bermondsey, the candidates were served a local delicacy - proper Pie and Mash (liquor included).

For a dyed-in-the-wool Londoner like me it felt like a sign.

But its not just vicars who need the kind of uniquely Cockney sustenance that only Pie and Mash can offer, curates (aka trainee vicars) need it too, so when three of us spent a day of prayer and reflection at our neighbouring parish church of St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey, and when it got to lunchtime, our next step was obvious.

With Manze's just round the corner, it was time for some Pie and Mash. And for our curate, Jos, his very first experience of a famous Bermondsey institution.

(For those readers who are wondering if we also downed a few succulent jellied eels - we didn't. And for those who are wondering about the liquor - this was  the middle of a prayer day after all -  it's the green Parsley sauce shown in the photo).

Manze's, a Bermondsey institution