Fish And Chips

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Some of my earliest memories are of being behind the counter at my Grandparents fish and chip shop.

My parents were still saving for their first home when I was born and they were living with my Grandparents. So, that's how I came to live in such a wonderful place :)

My Mother used to work in the shop and I would be put in my pram, behind the counter so that she and my Gran were close by. As I got older and could sit up, they would feed me chips and pieces of fish and fill my baby bottle with Coca Cola. Can you imagine the horror if that happened nowadays?

As I got older, I was allowed to help my Grandfather prepare the chips. We had a huge automatic potato peeler in the yard and I can remember helping to tip the sack of potatoes into it. It would make such a racket as the potatoes clunked around. What I don't remember is how they were chipped.

I remember the huge fat fryers and how everyone had to stand clear as the fresh chips were tipped into the hot oil. On one occasion, one of the fryers got left on and it caught fire. Not too much damage was done and luckily no-one was hurt.

In my Grandparents second shop, they also had a wet fish counter. My Grandfather taught me how to prepare the fish at the back of the shop and I would then help to display them all. I can remember being told off for hooking out all the eyes because I didn't like the fish looking at me!! The smell of the fish is with me to this day.

Behind the counter, there was usually a shelf displaying sundry items for sale. It consisted of Winkles & Cockles, Vinegar & Tomato Ketchup, Tartar Sauce & Wooden forks. If I got peckish, I'd just help myself to a jar of cockles. As I've got older, I hate the things. I once had some at the seaside and they were full of sand and I haven't touched them since.

Outside the shop there was a rack of bottles of Corona Pop (soda). Limeade and Cherryade were my favourites. If you returned the empty bottle to the shop, you got a 6d. Gosh, what's that worth now? 2p/5c ? Back then you could get a good few sweets with 6d. I recall the local teenagers hanging around outside the shop in the evening and they'd shake the glass bottles until occasionally one would explode. My Gran would shout at them from the windows of the flat above and if they continued, she'd throw a bucket of water over them! Happy days :)

Back then, the Fish & Chips were wrapped in newspapers left from the day before. This is no longer allowed under food hygiene regulations and nowadays plain paper is used. You can't beat eating your chips out of the wrapping. They just don't taste the same on a plate. I supposed plain paper is better in some ways... you don't end up with black print all over yourself!

I can remember how pleased I was when I was eventually allowed to serve in the shop. I practised saying 'wrapped or open?' for hours before my first 'shift'. I also had to master the wrapping process and could eventually do so blindfolded.

I used to pray that no-one would order 'scraps' with their chips and then I'd get to have them when the shop closed...yummy scraps. Scraps are the tiny pieces of left over batter that is taken from the oil with a slotted spoon.

My Mother still tells the story (much to my embarrassment) of the time a local woman came into the shop as we were preparing to close. I was starving hungry and didn't get to eat until the shop closed. This woman yapped on and on until she eventually tried to leave. In the meantime, I'd had enough. I stood in front of the shop doorway and blocked her way. When my Grandfather told me to move, I said 'NO, she hasn't bought anything and this is a shop. I'm not moving until she buys something!' I think I got yanked out of the way by my red faced Grandmother LOL!!!

At one point, I could walk past any chip shop and tell you what type of oil they were frying with and if it needed changing. I can't quite tell all the types now but I can still detect dirty oil.

In my early teens, I went to the Midlands on a school exchange trip. The family I stayed with took me to the chippie one night and I was horrified when they poured gravy all over my lovely chips. That's something we don't do in the South Of England, but 'Up North' it's common place...as are mushy peas.

Fish & chips are still one of my favourite meals, although I'm often disappointed by some shops. It seems to be getting harder and harder to find a decent chippy.

Menus in chip shops are much more international now than they traditionally were. You will always find Chips which come in varying portion sizes, such as a cone (literally served in a polystyrene cone) small & large portions. These sizes vary from shop to shop but basically a small portion would serve one & a large would serve 2 -3 people...depending on how hungry you are!

Now Chips in the U.K. are not the chips you have elsewhere. Chips in the U.K. are what Americans know as fries or steak fries... but ours are chunkier :)

Fish is generally Cod, Plaice or Haddock. Again small or large & you may be expected to order this as you enter the shop as they will cook it on demand (this way, they don't end up with expensive cooked fish left over) You may also find Skate & Rockfish. Sometimes Scampi is on the menu too. Please forgive me if I've left off your personal favourite, but my tummy is rumbling & I can only think about my favourites!!

The fish is dipped into a batter mixture & deep fried. You can ask for it plain if you'd rather.

You'll see lots of other items on the menu too. Most fish & chip shops are take aways. However, some have a restaurant or seating area too. Of course, this option will cost you more.

When ordering ask for large Cod & chips (or whatever) you'll be asked in return if you want salt & vinegar on that & if you want them wrapped or open. Open means you can eat them straight away without having to open the wrapping. Sometimes you'll be given them in a polystyrene box.

TIPS
If you're taking them home to eat, only have salt added in the shop. The vinegar soaks into the chips & can make them soggy before you get to eat them.

Don't go into a chippy as soon as it opens. Wait a while. Now, this isn't supposed to happen, but some shops will re-heat leftovers from the day before so the first customers will get the rotten warm ups... not nice. Luckily, it's happening less & less but it does still occur.

What's a Chip Butty?

YUMMY IS WHAT!! Ok, you take some chips & place them between bread & butter. It's essentially a chip sandwich but chip butty sounds so much better!

How to cook your own chips

Ok, now I'm no chef, so here's how to prepare & cook your own chips the Debnet way...as taught by my dear old Grandfather ;)

You Will Need:
Potatoes , big ones are best
Oil
Lard
Chip pan with basket or deep fat fryer
Kitchen roll
Metal slotted spoon
Salt & Vinegar to flavour

The best kind of potato, for me, is King Edwards. If you can't get those, then any potato that is suitable for baking will do.

Take the basket out of the pan. Pour the oil to just under half way up the pan. I use Sunflower oil. Then add a good chunk of lard. You can use all oil or just lard if you prefer. Never have the pan more than 2/3rds full of oil.

Turn on the heat to full on the cooker top, stove top burner or whatever you call it in your part of the world & place the pan onto it. Or, turn on the deep fat fryer. (follow instruction manual) The recipe below is for using an open pan.

All chip pans come complete with lids, but I never use the lid as it causes condensation to drip back into the pan & the chips don't do so well.

Set aside some kitchen paper roll to put the chips on after you've cooked them. It helps drain off excess oil. Or, if you don't worry about calories, skip this bit.

Peel & slice potatoes. How many? Depends how many hungry people you have to feed! I usually prepare one large potato per person. When you have your slices, then cut into chips. Don't make the slices too thick, or they won't cook through thoroughly. Don't chip them too thin, or they'll just crisp ;) Blot the chips over with Kitchen roll to dry them if needed. Put them into the basket.

When the oil is really hot & I mean hot, carefully add the chips by slowly tipping them from the basket into the pan & stand well back. That oil will spit like fury!!!

Give the pan a gentle shake & allow the chips to settle. From time to time, shake the pan. Never, never, stir the chips with a metal spoon. As they cook they will soften. If you go poking them around with a spoon, you'll break them up, so leave 'em be.

Meanwhile, line the empty basket with kitchen roll & set aside. NOTE!! I once left this too close to the hob & set fire to it so be warned!! LOL!!

When the chips are golden brown, test one by eating it. Now watch out, it'll be hot & you'll jump around the kitchen on one leg while the chip burns your tongue. You may have to repeat this a couple more times just to be sure ;) When you've cooked chips this way a few times, you'll noticed that the bubbling sound of the oil actually changes as the chips cook. Now you can stir with a metal slotted spoon.

When they're cooked, carefully lift the chips using the metal slotted spoon & put them into the lined basket. Shake it several times to absorb excess oil. TURN OFF THE HEAT & REMOVE THE PAN!!! Tip the chips straight into a serving bowl or onto a plate.

Sprinkle some salt & vinegar over them & serve. Enjoy!!

MAKE SURE YOU'VE TURNED OFF THE HEAT & REMOVED THE PAN & NEVER LEAVE A CHIP PAN UNATTENDED WHILST COOKING

Chips 'n Gravy
by

apmercer

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Well, traditionally, fish and chips were all you'd expect to find.

Over the years, items such as Fish cakes, pies, pea fritters, mushy peas, pickled eggs, Saveloy sausage, pineapple fritters, burgers, sausage in batter & many more have been added to the menu.

A more recent development has been away from the traditional British chippie. Don't let me mislead you, they still exist thankfully, but we're now seeing Chip shops with a more Continental twist. Chinese & Indian Take aways will also sell chips. The Greeks & Cypriot communities also have opened chip shops where you will also find some of their traditional fayre.

Great Britain
by

clarachandler

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Heinz Ketchup
Introduced by Henry John Heinz in 1876, Heinz Ketchup lives up to his founding principle, "To do a common thing, uncommonly well, brings success."

In the local chippie, you'll find small bottles of ketchup for sale...usually over priced too!! The chippie will give you a complimentry shake of salt & a sprinkle of vinegar but you'll have to provide anything else yourself.

I know this may be sad to some people, but I just can't eat chips without a dollop of tomato sauce... unless I'm eating them piping hot from the wrapper whilst walking along the sea front :)

POINTS® Value: 6.5
Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 15 min
Cooking Time: 45 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Bypass your local chippy with this tasty British dish!

Ingredients
5 spray low-fat cooking spray
700 g potato(es), scrubbed and cut into wedges
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon pepper
25 g flour
1 medium egg(s)
2 tablespoon water, cold
50 g dried breadcrumbs
700 g haddock, (4 x 175g fillets)
1 portion lemon(s), cut into wedges, to serve
1 tablespoon vinegar, malt, to serve
4 sprig parsley, to garnish
Instructions
Preheat oven to Gas Mark 6/200°C/400°F. Mist a baking sheet with spray cooking oil.

Put potato wedges into a roasting pan. Add olive oil and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare fish. Sprinkle flour onto a plate, season with salt and pepper. Beat egg and water together in a shallow bowl. Sprinkle breadcrumbs onto a separate plate. Coat fish in seasoned flour, dip into egg mixture, then coat in breadcrumbs. Arrange on baking sheet.

Reduce oven to Gas Mark 5/190°C/375°F. Continue to bake the potatoes, with the fish positioned below them, for another 15 - 20 minutes. To check that the fish is cooked, test it with a fork - the flesh should be opaque and should flake easily.

Serve the fish and chips with vinegar, lemon wedges, salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley.

Courtesy of Weightwatchers

The Nation's Favourite Dish - Fish and Chips

Ahh.... Fish, chips and mushy peas! There is nothing more British than fish and chips. Freshly cooked, piping hot fish and chips, smothered in salt and soused with vinegar, wrapped in newspaper and eaten out-of-doors on a cold and wintry day - it simply cannot be beaten!

So how, when and where did this quintessentially British dish come about?

The potato is thought to have been brought to England from the New World in the 17th century by Sir Walter Raleigh although it is believed that the French invented the fried potato chip.

Both Lancashire and London stake a claim to being the first to invent this famous meal - chips were a cheap, staple food of the industrial north whilst fried fish was introduced in London's East End. In 1839 Charles Dickens referred to a "fried fish warehouse" in his novel, 'Oliver Twist'.

The populace soon decided that putting fried fish and chips together was a very tasty combination and so was born our national dish of fish and chips!

The first fish and chip shop in the North of England is thought to have opened in Mossely, near Oldham, Lancashire, around 1863. Mr Lees sold fish and chips from a wooden hut in the market and later he transferred the business to a permanent shop across the road which had the following inscription in the window, "This is the first fish and chip shop in the world".

However in London, it is said that Joseph Malin opened a fish and chip shop in Cleveland Street within the sound of Bow Bells in 1860.

Fish and chip shops were originally small family businesses, often run from the 'front room' of the house and were commonplace by the late 19th century.

Through the latter part of the 19th century and well into the 20th century, the fish and chip trade expanded greatly to satisfy the needs of the growing industrial population of Great Britain. In fact you might say that the Industrial Revolution was fuelled partly by fish and chips!

The development of the steam trawler brought fish from all over the North Atlantic, Iceland and Greenland and the steam railways allowed easy and fast distribution of the fish around the country.

Fish and chips became so essential to the diet of the ordinary man and woman that one shop in Bradford had to employ a doorman to control the queue at busy times during 1931. The Territorial Army prepared for battle on fish and chips provided in special catering tents erected at training camps in the 1930's.

The fish and chip shop was invaluable in supplementing the family's weekly diet in the Second World War, as fish and chips were among the few foods not to be rationed. Queues were often hours long when the word went round that the chip shop had fish!! On one occasion at Brian's Fish and Chip Shop in Leeds, when fish was scarce, homemade fish cakes were sold - along with the confusing, and slightly worrying, warning: "Patrons: We do not recommend the use of vinegar with these fish cakes"!!

So are fish and chips any good for us, nutritionally? Fish and chips are a valuable source of protein, fibre, iron and vitamins, providing a third of the recommended daily allowance of vitamins for men and nearly half for women. Magnus Pyke cites it as an example of a traditional dish once jeered at by food snobs and even censured by health food devotees but now fully appreciated as a nutritious combination.

In 1999, the British consumed nearly 300 million servings of fish and chips* - that equates to six servings for every man, woman and child in the country. There are now around 8,500 fish and chip shops* across the UK - that's eight for every one McDonald's outlet, making British Fish and Chips the nation's favourite take-away.

*Image and text Source: The National Federation of Fish Friers

Harry Ramsden's is a worldwide restaurant chain dedicated to traditional British Fish & Chips.
Based in the UK, the business has over 170 owned and franchised outlets internationally, and serves around 10 million people annually. It has locations in Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and Walt Disney World Resort in the U.S. state of Florida.

The Guiseley branch of Harry Ramsden's
The business was started by Harry Ramsden (1888-1963) in 1928 in a wooden hut in White Cross in Guiseley near Leeds in Yorkshire, northern England. Three years later he moved into a 'fish and chip palace', complete with fitted carpets, oak paneled walls and chandeliers. The original hut still stands on the same site adjacent to the main restaurant, which holds the Guinness World Record for the largest fish and chip shop in the world, seating 250 people, serving nearly a million customers a year.
The restaurant is famous for the Harry Ramsden challenge where patrons who manage to finish a very large meal of fish and chips receive a certificate and sometimes a complimentary dessert depending on the individual restaurant.
In 1988, it was floated on the London Stock Exchange. In October 1999, it was bought by the Granada food service company for £20m, who added the brand to their motorway service stations (and Little Chefs). The average price of fish and chips at their restaurants at re-named Moto service stations is at least £7. Granada became the Select Service Partner UK Ltd division of Compass in 2000. SSP Group was essentially the travel catering division of Compass - all the brands found at Moto service stations. In April 2006, the company was split in two when Compass sold off SSP for £1,822m; the airports and railway station division was sold to EQT Partners of Sweden (who also own Findus) and the Moto service station division was bought by Macquarie Bank of Sydney, Australia. These are simply equity companies, and all running of the company is done by SSP, based in Weybridge in Surrey. Compass can also use the Harry Ramsden brand at its outlets in offices and universities.

Licensing of the brand
Under the name of the brand, Premier Foods make mushy peas (since April 2006), and Ross Youngs (owned by Heinz since October 1999) make frozen fish and oven chips. These licenses are administered by Golden Goose of Shoreditch.
The Challenge
A certificate is issued to those who can complete the Harry Ramsden's Challenge. The certificate is awarded to anybody who can devour a giant piece of battered cod, extra large portion of chips and a large serving of both mushy peas and tartar sauce. The time challenge is discouraged, however.
Did you Know?
Harry Corbett of Sooty fame was a nephew of Harry Ramsden and played the piano in his uncle's original restaurant.

Information originally found on Wikipedia & edited

Wish you were here

We're so hooked on fish and chips, we even miss them while we're on holiday abroad - according to a MORI, survey. 30% of us confess to a longing for our favourite take away while we're away in foreign climes, whereas only 7% miss that other old favourite, bangers and mash

Brits say no to Brussels

The Belgian habit of eating fish and chips with mayonnaise finds few fans in the UK. For us it's salt and vinegar or tomato ketchup - nothing else will do, unless you are from Scotland where spe cial brown sauce is popular.

Anytime, Anyplaice, Anywhere

Again according to a MORI survey, most of us take the conventional option and eat our fish and chips at home - but three fish and chip fans confessed to eat ing their fish and chips in bed intriguingly, all three were women

Far Flung Fish and Chips

People have come across fish 'and chip shops in the strangest places throughout the world. There's one on top of a Cliff in South Africa - they tower a baste into the sea and hoist up the fish Straight from the water below Other sightings include the middle of the desert in Oman and even at the back of a church. You can even get your fish and chip fix while gambling in the casinos of Las Vegas, Fish and chips in China don t sound especially appetising - apparently they are Served with sugar!

Fish and Chip fantasies

Scottish superstar Sean Connery was the outright winner of a survey to find out who we'd secretly love to serve us our fish and chips. He was chosen by 2696 of women respondents, ahead of Ross Kemp, alias Grant Mitchell in Eastenders Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves and comedians Lenny Henry and Angus Deayton. Catherine Zeta Jones came out on top of the men's fantasies.

Celebrities love fish and chips

Nicholas Parsons `the British have turned a simple, nourishing dish into a rational institution. Fish and chips are now as synonymous with our country as Shakespeare. cricket and the Tower of London. Good fish and chips from a well-run establishment take a lot of beating.
Paul Daniels 'When I moved South I managed to find a great local fish and chip shop in Harefield. So it's still very much part of my weekly diet.'

Fishing for Compliments

It's official - the way to a woman's heart Is through her stomach. A MORI survey showed that nine out of ten women say that a man should have bask cooking Skills. The most likely food to be a winner in the seduction game is fish chosen by one third of women as the dish most likely to put them in the mood for seduction. So come on chaps!

Courtesy of James Collins

I'm very proud that this Lens has been made Lens Of The Day on 29th July 2008.

Thank you all for helping me achieve this great honour.

English Fish & Chips

I grew up in the UK and once a week we would pop down the road to our local fish and chip shop and have fish and chips for tea. This was the first takeaway I ever had and was the only takeaway I had until I was in my late teens when we would sometimes buy fried rice on the way home from the pub.

I enjoyed my fish and chips, but sometimes I'd be bored so I'd have a battered sausage or fishcake with my chips instead. The first time I remember my parents going back to the UK on a holiday they put on quite a bit of weight - they ate fish and chips every day (sometimes more than once!) I thought this was a bit bizarre, here we were living in New Zealand (at that time) where we regularly ate on fresh schnapper, terriki and guerard, but anyway.....

On my gran's last trip over to New Zealand she was taken ill on her way to the airport and had to stay in hospital for over a week, it was very touch and go. After she was discharged she still wasn't that well to travel, but finally the doctors decided that she should try and make the trip back as she was stressing about dying in this strange country. She was still sick though so she needed someone to travel with - I was the chosen one. It was very exciting to be flying home at no cost (remember to always have travel insurance), not only that we were going first class - luxury. Then my mum takes me to one side to let me know that I wasn't to get too upset it Gran didn't make it because she was still very ill........it's a very long trip when every time your grandmother falls asleep you keep watching to make sure she's still breathing!

Anyway we made it - phew! I had been back in the UK for just over a week (I was staying for two) and I thought well I'd better try some fish and chips for mum and dad. One bite and I was taken.....I really had forgotten how great they were, I often long for them now, but I have to count my blessings that I'm living in a wonderful country and eat something else instead.

Lou talks about her favourite foods here Some Of My Favourite Foods