Fish and chips is a
take-away food that consists of
battered fish, commonly
cod or
haddock,
and
deep-fried
chips, sometimes accompanied by
mushy peas. The dish originated in the United Kingdom in the 19th
century.
History
Fish and chips became a stock meal among the
working classes in the United Kingdom as a consequence of the rapid
development of
trawl
fishing in the
North
Sea, and the development of railways which connected the ports to
major industrial cities during the second half of the 19th century,
which meant that fresh fish could be rapidly transported to the heavily
populated areas.[1]
Deep-fried fish was first introduced into Britain during the 17th
century by Jewish refugees from Portugal and Spain,[2][3]
and is derived from
pescado frito. In 1860, the first fish and chip shop was opened in
London by Joseph Malin.[4]
Deep-fried chips (slices or pieces of potato) as a dish may have
first appeared in Britain in about the same period: the
Oxford English Dictionary notes as its earliest usage of "chips"
in this sense the mention in
Dickens'
A Tale of Two Cities (published in 1859): "Husky chips of
potatoes, fried with some reluctant drops of oil".
The modern fish-and-chip shop ("chippy" or "chipper" in modern
British slang[5][6])
originated in the United Kingdom, although outlets selling fried food
occurred commonly throughout Europe. Early fish-and-chip shops had only
very basic facilities. Usually these consisted principally of a large
cauldron of cooking
fat, heated
by a coal fire. During
World War II fish and chips remained one of the few foods in the
United Kingdom not subject to
rationing.[7]
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the Fish Labelling Regulations
2003[8][9]
enact directive 2065/2001/EC and generally means that "fish" must be
sold with the particular species named; so "cod and chips" now appears
on menus rather than the more vague "fish and chips". In the United
Kingdom the
Food Standards Agency guidance excludes
caterers from this;[10]
but several local Trading Standards authorities and others do say it
cannot be sold merely as "fish and chips".[11][12][13]
England
The dish became popular in wider circles in London and South East
England in the middle of the 19th century (Charles
Dickens mentions a "fried fish warehouse" in
Oliver Twist, first published in 1838), while in the north of
England a trade in deep-fried chipped potatoes developed. The first chip
shop stood on the present site of
Oldham's
Tommyfield Market.[14]
It remains unclear exactly when and where these two trades combined to
become the fish-and-chip shop industry we know. A Jewish immigrant,
Joseph Malin opened the first recorded combined fish-and-chip shop
in London in 1860 or in 1865; a Mr Lees pioneered the concept in the
North of England, in
Mossley,
in 1863.[15]
The concept of a fish restaurant was introduced by Samuel Isaacs
(born 1856 in
Whitechapel, London; died 1939 in
Brighton, Sussex) who ran a thriving wholesale and retail fish
business throughout London and the South of England in the latter part
of the 19th century. Isaacs' first restaurant opened in London in 1896
serving fish and chips, bread and butter, and tea for nine pence,[16]
and its popularity ensured a rapid expansion of the chain.
The restaurants were carpeted, had waited service, tablecloths,
flowers, china and cutlery, and made the trappings of upmarket dining
affordable to the working classes for the first time. They were located
in
Tottenham Court Road,
St Pancras,
The Strand,
Hoxton,
Shoreditch,
Brixton
and other London districts, as well as
Clacton,
Brighton,
Ramsgate,
Margate
and other seaside resorts in southern England. Menus were expanded in
the early 20th century to include meat dishes and other variations as
their popularity grew to a total of thirty restaurants. Sam Isaacs'
trademark was the phrase "This is the
Plaice"
combined with a picture of the punned-upon fish in question. A glimpse
of the old Brighton restaurant at No.1 Marine Parade can be seen in the
background of
Norman Wisdom's 1955 film One Good Turn just as Norman/Pitkin
runs onto the seafront; this is now the site of a
Harry Ramsden's fish and chips restaurant. A
blue plaque at
Oldham's
Tommyfield Market marks the first chips fried in Britain in 1860, and
the origin of the fish and chip shop and fast food industries in
Britain.[17]
Scotland
Fish and chips traditionally wrapped in white paper and
newspaper,
Stromness,
Orkney
Dundee
City Council claims that "...in the 1870s, that glory of British
gastronomy - the chip - was first sold by Belgian immigrant Edward De
Gernier in the city’s Greenmarket."[18]
In
Edinburgh, a combination of Gold Star
brown sauce and water or malt vinegar, known as "sauce", or more
specifically as "chippy sauce", has great popularity.[19]
Ireland
Main article:
Irish cuisineIn Ireland, the first fish and chips were sold by an Italian
immigrant, Giuseppe Cervi, who mistakenly stepped off an America-bound
ship at Cobh
(then called Queenstown) in
County Cork and walked all the way to Dublin.[20]
He started by selling fish and chips outside Dublin pubs from a
handcart. He then found a permanent spot in Great Brunswick Street (now
Pearse Street). His wife Palma would ask customers "Uno di questa,
uno di quella?" This phrase (meaning "one of this, one of the other")
entered the
vernacular in Dublin as "one and one", which is still a way of
referring to fish and chips in the city.[6]
Composition
Cooking
Traditional frying uses
beef
dripping or
lard; however,
vegetable oils, such as
peanut oil (used because of its relatively high
smoke point) now predominate. A minority of vendors in the north of
England and Scotland and the majority of vendors in Northern Ireland
still use dripping or lard, as it imparts a different flavour to the
dish, but it has the side effect of making the fried chips unsuitable
for vegetarians and for adherents of certain faiths. Lard is used in
some living industrial history museums, such as the
Black Country Living Museum.
Thickness
Fish and sliced chips served with
coleslaw in the United States
Fish and chips at a
Hesburger fast food restaurant in Finland, advertised as
particularly British
British chips are traditionally thicker than American-style
French fries sold by major multinational
fast
food chains, resulting in a lower fat content per portion. In their
homes or in non-chain restaurants, people in or from the United States
may eat a thick type of chip, more similar to the British variant,
sometimes referred to as
steak fries.[21][22]
How much cooking fat soaks into the potato depends on the surface
area and how long they are cooked. Chips have a smaller surface area per
unit weight than French fries, which means absorbing less oil in a given
time. On the other hand, chips, being thicker, take longer to cook than
fries.
Batter
UK chippies traditionally use a simple water and flour batter, adding
a little
sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and a little vinegar to create
lightness, as they create bubbles in the batter. Other recipes may use
beer or milk batter, where these liquids are often substitutes for
water. The
carbon dioxide in the beer lends a lighter texture to the batter.
Beer also results in an orange-brown colour. A simple beer batter might
consist of a 2:3 ratio of flour to beer by volume. The type of beer
makes the batter taste different: some prefer
lager[23][24]
whereas others use
stout or
bitter.
Choice of fish
In Britain and Ireland,
cod and
haddock
appear most commonly as the fish used for fish and chips,[25]
but vendors also sell many other kinds of fish, especially other
white fish, such as
pollock
or
coley,
plaice,
skate, and
ray
(particularly popular in
Ireland); and huss or
rock salmon (a term covering several species of
dogfish and similar fish). In
Northern Ireland, cod, plaice or
whiting appear most commonly in 'fish suppers'—'supper' being
Scottish & Northern Irish chip-shop slang for a food item accompanied by
chips. Suppliers in
Devon and
Cornwall regularly offer pollock and coley as cheap alternatives to
haddock due to their regular availability in a common catch. As a cheap,
nutritious, savoury and common alternative to a whole piece of fish,
fish-and-chips shops around the UK supply small battered rissoles of
compressed cod
roe.
In Australia, reef cod and
rock
cod (a different variety from that used in the United Kingdom),
barramundi or
flake (a type of
shark
meat), or snapper are commonly used. From the early 21st century, farmed
basa
imported from Vietnam and
hoki have become common in Australian fish and chip shops. Other
types of fish are also used based on regional availability.
In New Zealand, snapper was originally the preferred species for
battered fillets in the North Island. As catches for this fish declined,
it was replaced by
hoki, shark (marketed as lemon fish) and
tarakihi.
Bluefin gurnard and
blue
cod predominate in South Island fish and chips.
In the United States, the type of fish used depends on availability
in a given region. Some common types are cod,
halibut,
flounder,
tilapia
or, in
New England,
Atlantic cod or
haddock.
Salmon is growing common on the West Coast, while freshwater
catfish
is most commonly used in the
Southeast.
Accompaniments
In chip shops in the United Kingdom and Ireland,
salt and
vinegar
is traditionally sprinkled over fish and chips at the time it is served.[25]
Suppliers use
malt vinegar, onion vinegar (used for pickling onions), or the
cheaper
non-brewed condiment. In Britain a portion of
mushy peas is a popular side dish
[26]
as are a range of pickles that typically include
gherkins,
onions and
eggs.[27]
In table-service restaurants and
pubs, the dish is usually served with a slice of lemon for squeezing
over the fish and without any sauces or
condiments, with salt, vinegar and sauces available at the
customer's leisure.[28]
In Ireland, Wales and Northern England, most takeaways serve warm
portions of side-sauces such as curry sauce,
gravy or
mushy peas. The sauces are usually poured over the chips. In some
areas, this dish without fish is referred to as 'wet chips'. Other fried
products include 'scraps'
(also known as 'bits' in Southern England or 'batter' in North-East
England), originally a by-product of fish frying. Still popular in
Northern England, they were given as treats to the children of
customers. Portions prepared and sold today consist of loose blobs of
batter, deep fried to a crunchy golden crisp in the cooking-fat. The
very popular potato scallop or potato cake consists of slices of potato
dipped in fish batter and deep fried until golden brown. These are often
accompanied for dipping by the warm sauces listed above.[29]
In Edinburgh and the Lothians salt and sauce (or saut an sauce)
is the normal accompaniment traditionally sprinkled over fish and chips
or almost anything else bought from the fish-and-chips shops. The watery
"sauce" is a mixture of malt vinegar or non-brewed condiment and/or
water and Rowat's or Gold Star brand brown sauce, and it is mixed and
bottled—often in an old glass fizzy drink bottle with a hole pierced in
the
screw cap—by each fish-and-chip shop to their own secret recipe.
In Australia and New Zealand, plain salt is usually sprinkled over
fish and chips just before serving. Some customers may choose to salt
food themselves, given current public health concerns about salt intake.
Another popular condiment is
tomato
sauce.
Tartar sauce is also very popular for the fish. Both tomato and
tartar sauce are usually sold in small plastic tubs on the shop counter.
Complementary slices of lemon are sometimes served with the dish or
takeaway pack, although many New Zealanders grow lemons at home. Less
commonly, following British and Irish traditions, malt vinegar is the
condiment of choice of some Australasian fish and chip lovers. In New
Zealand, most dish and chip shops now offer a choice between battered
and crumbed fish, and battered hotdogs, battered potato fritters and
other deep fried novelties are also usually available.
In Canada, fish and chips may be served with the traditional salt and
vinegar, but a lemon wedge and tartar sauce is often the accompaniment
found in table service restaurants. Coleslaw of both the vinegared or
creamy variety is often interchangeably served as a side.
In the United States, most restaurants serve fish and chips with
tartar sauce, ketchup, and coleslaw, although malt vinegar also is
sometimes offered, especially at UK-themed pubs.
Vendors
A mobile Fish and chip vendor in
Bathgate, Scotland
In the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and
South Africa, fish and chips usually sell through independent
restaurants and
take-aways. Outlets range from small affairs to chain restaurants.
Locally-owned seafood restaurants are also popular in many local
markets. Mobile "chip
vans" serve to cater for temporary occasions.[30]
In Canada, the outlets may be referred to as chip wagons. In the
United Kingdom some shops have amusing names, such as "A Salt and
Battery", "The Codfather","The Frying Scotsman","Oh My Cod", and "Frying
Nemo"[31]
In countries such as New Zealand and Australia, fish-and-chip vendors
are a popular business and source of income among the Asian community,
particularly Chinese migrants.[32]
In Ireland, the majority of traditional vendors are migrants or the
descendants of migrants from southern Italy. A trade organisation exists
to represent this tradition.[33]
Fish and chips is a popular lunch meal eaten by families travelling
to seaside resorts for day trips who do not bring their own
picnic
meals.
Fish-and-chip outlets sell roughly 25% of all the
white fish consumed in the United Kingdom, and 10% of all
potatoes.
The existence of numerous competitions and awards for "best
fish-and-chip shop"[34]
testifies to the recognised status of this type of outlet in
popular culture.[35]
Fish-and-chip shops traditionally wrapped their product in newspaper,
or with an inner layer of white paper (for hygiene) and an outer layer
of newspaper or blank
newsprint (for insulation and to absorb grease), though the use of
newspaper for wrapping has almost ceased on grounds of hygiene. Nowadays
establishments usually use food-quality wrapping paper, occasionally
printed on the outside to emulate newspaper.
The British
National Federation of Fish Friers was founded in 1913. It promotes
fish and chips and offers training courses.
A previous world record for the "largest serving of fish and chips"
was held by Gadaleto's Seafood Market in New Paltz, NY.[36][37]
This 2004 record was broken by
Yorkshire pub Wensleydale Heifer in July 2011.[38]
An attempt to break this record was made by
Doncaster fish and chip shop Scawsby Fisheries in August 2012, which
served 33 lb (13.6 kg) of battered cod alongside 64 lb (27.2 kg) of
chips.[39]
Cultural impact
A
neon sign for Fish and Chips in London
The long-standing
Roman Catholic tradition of not eating meat on
Fridays - especially during
Lent - and
of substituting fish for other types of meat on that day - continues to
influence habits even in predominantly Protestant, semi-secular
and secular societies. Friday night remains a traditional occasion for
eating fish-and-chips; and many
cafeterias and similar establishments, while varying their menus on
other days of the week, habitually offer fish and chips every Friday.[40]
In Australia and New Zealand, the words "fish and chips" are often
used to highlight the difference in each country's short-i vowel sound
[ɪ]. Australian English has a higher forward sound
[i], close to the y in happy and city, while
New Zealand English has a lower backward sound
[ɘ], a slightly higher version of the a in about
and comma. Hence many people from other dialects hear an
Australian say "feesh and cheeps" and a New Zealander say "fush and
chups" for fish and chips.[41][42]
Environment
In the UK, waste fat from fish and chip shops has become a useful
source of
biodiesel.[43]
German biodiesel company Petrotec have outlined plans to produce
biodiesel in the UK from waste fat from the British fish-and-chip
industry.[44]
See also
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Bibliography
External links