Home: Fish and Chips

Fish and Chips is a deep fried meal which is sometimes thought of or assumed to be the national dish of the UK. Fish and Chips shops are often referred to as a 'chippy' and the dish as 'Fish n Chips'.

Fried fish is believed to have developed in the South of England, whilst fried potato chips developed in the North of England. Joseph Malin, a Londoner, is believed to have been the first man to marriage the two and open the first Fish and Chip shop.

The date his chippy was opened was in 1860. As the railway was developed across the UK around that era, it allowed fresh fish to be transported across the country at speed. Before then, it was simple impossible to sell fresh fish to inland parts of the UK.

The fried potato chip in a traditional recipe of Fish and Chips are thick to medium cut and are therefore of a different dimension to French Fries. The Fish is usually a whole piece of either Cod or Haddock and is covered in a basic batter made of flour and water.

Sometimes the flour is made with beer and fizzy water. Due to the shortage of cod and haddock stocks, pollock and plaice is sometimes being used, but it is still not considered as a traditional white fish for the recipe.

Fish and chips are fried in various types of fat and oil. Most chips shops used to fry in beef dripping, but, this fat is only used widespread in chips shops in the North of England and Yorkshire in particular.

Vegetable oil such as sunflower and peanut is now used in most chips shops, due to it being healthier and containing less of an aftertaste to dripping. However, many people swear by using dripping, due to the increased flavour and texture it gives.

The traditional accompaniments to Fish and Chips are salt and vinegar and mushy peas. However, gravy and curry sauce is also becoming popular.