Full transcript
0:00Eighty per cent of the British population
0:02say they visit a fish and chip shop at least once a year,
0:05and we consume 382 million meals from the chippie per annum.
0:09That’s pretty impressive
0:10for a combination that’s only been with us for around 150 years –
0:14for the first fish and chip shop only appeared in around 1860.
0:18Separately, both fried fish, and chips, were enjoyed by the British
0:21well before they came together.
0:23Chips as a term for something edible was in use in the 18th Century,
0:27often in relation, rather curiously, to oranges -
0:30orange chips were candied chunks of peel.
0:33It was in the same century
0:34that the potato was going from knobbly curiosity to staple food,
0:38especially for the poor,
0:39and given how well potatoes lend themselves to deep frying,
0:42it was inescapable that potato chips would soon be on the scene.
0:46By the Victorian era, chipped potatoes were everywhere,
0:49from the delicate little ‘straw potatoes’ -
0:52which resembled, well, straw - eaten by the rich,
0:54to the French street food, which Dickens described as
0:57“husky chips of potatoes fried with some reluctant drops of oil”.
1:01The British preferred baked potatoes, but they ate them fried too.
1:05Fried fish, meanwhile, was also on the tables of the rich and the poor.
1:09Bread-crumbed filets,
1:10delicately fried in butter and garnished with fried parsley,
1:12were a staple for upmarket meals.
1:15Whitebait, fried in lard, were considered a delicious delicacy.
1:18But there was another place fried fish could be bought,
1:20and that was the street -
1:22in the Jewish quarters of London and other big cities.
1:25There, Sephardic Jews sold cold fried fish
1:28intended for eating on the Sabbath
1:29when no cooking was allowed in Jewish homes.
1:31It quickly took off, being cheap, filling and tasty,
1:35and fried fish shops and market stalls - hot and cold -
1:38sprung up in cities across the UK.
1:40It was inevitable that these two street foods,
1:42so popular with the masses, would end up being sold in combination.
1:45It proved a winning formula and fish and chip shops took off immediately.
1:50Trawl fishing and the railway boom of the 1870s
1:52helped fish to reach inland areas quicker than ever before,
1:56and potatoes were already grown everywhere.
1:58By 1910 there were 25,000 fish and chip shops in the UK,
2:02and by 1929 there were 10,000 more.
2:06Such was the hold of fish and chips - and its genuine goodness,
2:09especially for its mainly working-class consumers -
2:11that during the Second World War,
2:13fish and chips remained off the ration,
2:15though the type of fish available
2:16was not always the most delicious or desirable of species.
2:20Across the UK, accompaniments vary - from the mushy peas of the north,
2:23to curry sauce, ketchup, mayonnaise or the chip shop spice
2:26which is on every counter in Hull.
2:28Salt and vinegar remain the staples.
2:31In the 21st Century chippie,
2:32vegetable fats have often replaced beef dripping or lard for frying.
2:36Newspaper used to be the wrapping of choice - outlawed,
2:39unless fresh from the printers and unsullied by readers’ hands, in 1968.
2:43Now it’s mainly plain paper and polystyrene,
2:46but the skillful wrapping and excitement of unwrapping remains.
2:50There are, however, fish and chips…
2:52and fish and chips.
2:54Witness the disappointment on the faces of tourists,
2:56lured by the promise of a great British delicacy,
2:59only to find they’ve happened upon the bad version,
3:02all grease and soggy batter.
3:04But then when it’s good…
3:06well, it’s crispy and fluffy, with a hit of vinegar, and a punch of salt.
3:10It's unbeatable.