Chips, Fries - whatever we call 'em we love 'em

OK, my side of the Atlantic we call them chips. In the US, you say fries and what you call chips, we call crisps. Confusing but we know what we mean and we know what we like.

Long before Chinese, Indian, kebabs, KFC or McDonald's ever came along we had fish and chip shops. I remember Friday nights when I was a kid in South London. I used to go a swimming club at Camberwell Baths and my treat on the way home would be a portion of chips and some of the crispy batter bits. Sprinkled with vinegar and salt, they would go quickly shared with my Mum. I think the chippy was still using newspaper for the outside wrapper then or maybe they had just changed to plain paper. The hot paper smell added to the memory of the treat, and mostly we had to queue outside which was tantalising as people walked out past you eating! Have I made your mouth water yet?

Generally speaking British chips tend to be chunkier than their American cousins and the vinegar makes them delectably soft and squishy but they do tend to be fat laden and death to slimming diets.

However, I have the answer to this....

These are typically the fish you will find in a British chip shop and they are almost invariably coated in batter. I have only come across a few places who do fish in breadcrumbs which I much prefer. The very best batter is made with beer which gives it a wonderful crispness and flavour.

This is a good recipe for beer batter

Because I prefer breadcrumbs, I most often buy my fish breadcrumbed and all ready to cook from the supermarket chill cabinet but occasionally I am tempted by a bargain on the fresh fish counter or someone gives me some fish they've caught (I live close to the sea).

There is a secret to making breadcrumbs stick and it works with other things like chicken too. You HAVE to start off with a good coating of flour. Then it is into the very well beaten egg, then into the breadcrumbs. You can do a second egg and second crumb coat if you like

Please please please DON'T use those horrible bright orange crumbs in packets. They don't do anything for your food. Whizz stale bread minus crusts in the food processor and dry out in a very low oven without letting them brown, Store in an airtight jar or freeze in a bag and use from frozen. If you can get the Japanese panko breadcrumbs they do very well too.

OK, so now you have your fish ready to go. You can cook it quickly in a deep fryer, or in the oven, By the time the crumbs are golden, the fish inside will be cooked. Just one thing - don't start with frozen fish. The breadcrumbs probably won't stick and the fish will still be raw inside even when the crumbs are burned to cinders. OK, you wouldn't think of it. I don't know who is going to be reading this lens so I just have to say it!

Sea Fish Poster - 27 in. x 39.75 in.
Find it at AllPosters.com

The type of fish you get most often depends on the part of the UK you happen to be in. Down on the South Coast where I live, if you just ask for 'fish' it will be cod. If you say the same in Newcastle or up in Scotland, it's more likely to be haddock. Skate is a bony flat fish and a cousin to the giant rays of the Pacific and Caribbean. Again more common in London.

Plaice is a lovely delicate lemony tasting flatfish with both its eyes on top of its body - see the pic above. Recognise it by it's black or dark brown and red-spotted topside and pale underside on the fishmonger's counter. I think batter rather spoils it, but you should make up your own mind.

You were wondering what 'rock' was? The picture shows a greater spotted dogfish. It has other names including nursehound and bull huss and is a small member of the shark family.

You will sometimes find its egg cases washed up on the beach entangled in seaweed. They are popularly known as 'mermaid's purses'

There is also another slightly different species called the spiny or lesser spotted dogfish which has a longer and sharper nose. That one is an endangered species and should not end up on your plate, but unfortunately does because it doesn't know its endangered and swims into nets and dies. Sharks need to keep swimming to breathe.

Please, if you go sea fishing off the UK coast, learn to distinguish these two fish and throw the endangered ones back unharmed if you can. Otherwise, enjoy your fish supper and get your own back on Jaws.

Warning - in other places (not plaices) in the world, rock salmon is something completely different.

Now, more about Hugh's Fish Fight.

This celeb. chef loves to fish and will cook anything that comes on his line. Mackerel is a favourite with him, but I find it a bit greasy when cooked in batter. British fishing boats have a horrible habit of throwing back a large proportion of their catch because they think they won't sell. The fish die anyway and rot, if the gulls don't get them.

Hugh wants us to try different sorts of fish and for the fishermen to be allowed to land what they catch.The fishing boats are throwing back perfectly good adult cod and haddock simply because that particular boat has caught its quota for the year. This fish could be given away to anyone who would take it, but they aren't allowed to do that either. It's total lunacy and Hugh is trying to get European law changed so that dumping catches stops, or is significantly reduced.

You will find other things in the food cabinet in a typical 'chippie'. Pies - steak and kidney, meat and potato, chicken and mushroom are very popular. Fried chicken, scampi (big prawns) in breadcrumbs, sausages with or without batter. There is a special type of sausages called saveloys which are a bit like hot dog sausages, but much bigger, fatter and redder.

This is what inspired this lens. I usually have a bag of chunky oven chips in the freezer, but I forgot to get some more. I really couldn't be bothered to get the deep fat fryer out.

So, I did my low fat chip recipe. This comes from a friend who runs a sliimming class. From my veg. box I found a potato about the size of my clenched fist and peeled it. I cut it into chunky chips. Then I put them in a pan of salted water and brought to the boil - kind of like roasties, but you don't let them get soft at the edges. JUST to a full rolling boil, no more. Strain and put on a tea towel and dry very well. Now you have a choice. If you have one of those low-fat sprays, use that. If not, use oil and I like olive oil. You only need a couple of teaspoons. Put the oil on a piece of foil and roll the chips around. Or spray them. That was a very generous portion for 1 and would have done two less greedy people!

Lift the foil with the chips onto an oven tray. Put them in a hot oven (200C or Gas 6-7) until they turn brown - about 30 mins at least. Keep checking. If you are cooking ready-breaded fish put it in after 15 mins.

In the chippie, you will get something called 'non-brewed condiment' on your chips. Don't ask me why, but it has replaced malt vinegar in the years since I grew up. What I really like is a little cider vinegar sprinkled on my chips. It has a really nice flavour and it is good for you. Don't spoil the treat by too much salt which is NOT good for you.

I almost forgot mushy peas. I was told I couldn't possibly explain mushy pea fritters or pie, mash, eels and liquor to a non-Brit. Let's start with mushy peas.

You know what a pea is. One of those bright green things which inhabit the freezer cabinet and get served up with all kinds of meals. If you leave them a bit longer before you pick them and freeze them, they get big and fat and dry and less appetising. At that point harvest them, let them get completely dry and hard. Then when you want mushy peas, you soak them, boil them into submission, strain very well and crush a bit. Or just go and buy a tin of them and serve hot with your fish and chips with a bit of butter and lots of pepper.

In the chip shop, you'll find them two different ways. hot, In a little pot, or made into a fritter. When they come out of the tin, they are a fairly dense stiff consistency. Chippies scoop spoonfuls, batter and fry them. Mushy pea fritters explained. They do taste nice - honestly.

And then there is the other great British takeaway - or eat-in, the pie and mash shop. Great food, and great places. Take my word for it. The very best of the kind is Manzes in Tower Bridge Road,, London SE1 - all the London taxi drivers know it and a fair number eat there regularly. Recommended. I'll let them explain the food.

Some people won't touch fish and chips without gallons of tomato ketchup. Not for me.

The traditional British sauce with fish is tartare, - this is how it's made but every supermarket has it in jars.OK

Then there is Hollandaise which is made like this which I prefer to tartare.

Best of all I like mayonnaise. Good thick Hellmans or similar in big generous dollops.