Fish and chips

Bath, Somerset, Bristol, Cardiff

What it is

Fish and chips is a hot dish of battered and fried fish served with chips. The chips are slices or pieces of potato, fried. Many people consider it the national dish of the United Kingdom. Today it is a common takeaway food in many other countries too, especially English-speaking and Commonwealth nations. In Britain and Ireland, the fish is most often cod or haddock, though shops sell other white fish as well. It is a simple, warm meal, handed over in paper.

Where it comes from

Fish and chips began in England in the 19th century. Fried fish came with Jewish immigrants, including Spanish and Portuguese Jews who had lived in the Netherlands. They coated fish in flour and fried it in oil. Fried potato chips may have appeared in England around the same time. Nobody knows exactly where the two first met. The earliest known shops opened in the 1860s: Joseph Malin in London, and John Lees in Mossley, Lancashire. Trawl fishing in the North Sea and railways let fresh fish reach the industrial cities.

How it is made

The fish is dipped in a batter, then fried in hot fat. An early recipe from 1845 describes a batter of flour and water. Chips are slices or pieces of potato, deep-fried. Early shops were basic. Usually they had a large cauldron of cooking fat, heated by a coal fire. Later the shop settled into a standard format: the fryers sit behind a counter, and the food is handed over to queuing customers in paper wrappings. The fish is named on the menu, such as cod or haddock.

How it is eaten

Fish and chips is eaten hot, usually from paper. Salt and vinegar are common, and mushy peas are a familiar side. In Cardiff, curry sauce is another standard order. Around Edinburgh, many people use brown sauce mixed with water or malt vinegar, called chippy sauce. Travellers often eat it outdoors by the water, on a harbour wall or a quay, and keep an eye on the gulls. Once the paper was old newspaper; now it is largely plain paper, cardboard or plastic. In Dublin, people call it "one and one."

Where to try it

Many places in the library serve it. In Bath, a shop near the Abbey lets you eat in or take away. In Bristol, fish bars in the centre serve it hot in paper. At Fremantle, several shops stand by the Fishing Boat Harbour. At Conwy Castle, chip shops near the quay; in Galway, chip shops near the river. In Cardiff, eat from the paper beside the bay. On the Dingle Peninsula, a harbour takeaway sells it, and in Kaikōura, shops sit on the beach side of the main road.

Sources

Wikipedia, “Fish and chips” (CC BY-SA 4.0): the facts.

Picture 1: photograph (cropped) — Fish and chips blackpool.jpg — Matthias Meckel, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Picture 2: photograph (cropped) — Mobile Fish and Chips.JPG — Stefan Schäfer, Lich, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Picture 3: photograph (cropped) — Fish and chips.jpg — Andrew Dunn, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Picture 4: photograph (cropped) — Fish and Chips 2.jpg — The Pancake of Heaven!, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Picture 5: photograph (cropped) — Fish & Chip Routemaster (2).jpg — Garry Knight from London, England, CC BY-SA 2.0.