Fish and chips

A serving of fish and chips

Fish and chips (sometimes written "fish ’n’ chips") is a popular take-away food originating from the United Kingdom. It consists of deep-fried fish (traditionally cod) in batter or breadcrumbs with deep-fried chipped (slab-cut) potatoes.

Popular tradition associates the dish with the United Kingdom; and fish and chips remain very popular in the United Kingdom and in areas colonised by people from the UK in the 19th century, such as Australia and New Zealand. Fish and chips also have considerable popularity in parts of North America (New England, the Pacific Northwest and Canada generally), the Republic of Ireland and South Africa. Establishments in Denmark and in some coastal towns in Norway serve fried fillets. In the Netherlands, the popular deep-fried, battered fillet dish called lekkerbek sometimes appears served with chips.

The term "chips"

The term "chips" in American English differs in usage from that of other varieties of English.

Local names for the fried, chipped (slab-cut) potatoes traditionally served as part of "fish'n'chips":

• United Kingdom: "chips"
• Australia: "chips"
• New Zealand: "chips"
• Ireland: "chips"
• many Commonwealth countries: "chips"
• India: "French fries"
• United States: "Fries" (as with any long-cut fried potato pieces)or "French fries."
• Canada: "French fries", or "fries", however "chips" occurs most frequently when it's with fish (fish and chips) common in most locations outside of Quebec
  • Quebec: "frites"
• South Africa: "slap chips" — pronounced /slup/.
• South America: "Papas fritas" (fried potatoes)
• France : "frites"

In contrast/parallel, local names for the crunchy snack-food comprising deep-fried wafers of thin potato, generally eaten cold:

• United Kingdom: "crisps"
• Ireland: "crisps"
• Canada: "potato chips" or "chips"
• United States: "potato chips" or "chips"
• Australia: "chips"
• New Zealand: "chippies" or "chips"
• South Africa: "chips"
• India: "Chips"
• France : "Chips"

The British usually serve thicker slabs of potato than the "french fries" popularised by major multinational U.S. hamburger-chains. In their homes or in non-chain restaurants, people in or from the U.S.A. may eat a thicker type of chip, called "home fries" or "steak fries".

Despite the differences in terminology, the combination of strips of potato-flesh served hot with fish still has the name "fish and chips" in most U.S. restaurants which serve the dish. But a few U.S. restaurants will offer "crisps" instead of "fries" when a consumer orders "fish and chips".

History

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Service counter in an Irish fish-and-chip shop

In the United Kingdom, fish and chips became a cheap food popular among the working classes with the rapid development of trawl fishing in the North Sea in the second half of the nineteenth century. Before then, fishermen had used long lines to target only large, high-quality demersal (bottom-dwelling) fish, especially valuable sole. Trawlers, on the other hand, landed a mixed catch of high-quality "prime" and cheaper "offal" fish, most of which fishermen initially threw back into the water due to the lack of a market. However, as railway charges fell, it became viable to transport this cheaper fish inland, and demersal fish became a mass-market commodity rather than a costly luxury.

Deep-fried "chips" (slices or pieces) of potato as a dish, may have first appeared in Britain in about the same period: the OED 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". (Note that Belgian tradition, as recorded in a manuscript of 1781, dates the frying of potatoes carved into the shape of fish back at least as far as 1680.)

The modern fish-and-chip shop ("chippy" in modern British slang) originated in the United Kingdom, although outlets selling fried food occurred commonly throughout Europe. According to one story, fried-potato shops spreading south from Scotland merged with fried-fish shops spreading from southern England. 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. Insanitary by modern standards, such establishments also emitted a smell associated with frying, which led to the authorities classifying fish-and-chip supply as an "offensive trade", a stigma retained until the interwar period. The industry overcame this reputation because during World War II fish and chips remained one of the few foods in the United Kingdom not subject to rationing.

England

A blue plaque marking the first chip shop in Britain, in Oldham, Lancashire

Deep-fried fish and deep-fried chips have appeared separately on menus for many years, though potatoes did not reach Europe until the 17th century. The originally Sephardi dish pescado frito, or deep-fried fish, came to the Netherlands and England with the Spanish and Portuguese Jews in the 17th and 18th centuries. (History credits the Portuguese with introducing the dish to Japan: see tempura.)

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) whilst 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. It remains unclear exactly when and where these two trades combined to become the fish-and-chip shop industry we know today. Joseph Malin opened the first recorded combined fish-and-chip shop in London in 1860 or in 1865 while a Mr Lees pioneered the concept in the North of England in Mossley, Lancashire in 1863.

Scotland

Main article: Scottish cuisine

In common with the rest of the United Kingdom, Scotland experienced a wave of immigration from Italy toward the end of the nineteenth century. Many of the new Scots Italians set up friggitoria or gelateria businesses, catering for their own communities as well as for the native population. Such Italian traders in Scotland originally hawked their wares from carts selling mostly ice-cream, but with the abundance and wide availability of seafood in Scotland, fish and chip shops soon became common. The 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." Brattisani's in Edinburgh's Newington district promotes itself as the oldest operational chip shop in Scotland, having traded since 1889.

Originally situated only in the larger cities and ports, fish and chip shops have proliferated in Scotland. Many Scottish chip shops remain Italian-owned, with names such as Crolla's, L'Alba d'Oro, Pia's, Valentini's and L'Aquila Bianca.

Scotland made the transition to polystyrene containers later than some places, and although polystyrene containers have become a common sight in Scottish fish-and-chip shops, some shops still sell the food with its traditional wrapping of paper. The traditional packaging involved an inner white-paper wrapping and an outer insulating layer of newspaper, though nowadays the use of newspaper has largely ceased on grounds of hygiene, with food-quality wrapping paper often used as a substitute. Authorities banned the use of actual newspaper in the 1970s but it had continued use into the 1980s. Polystyrene packing, usual in many other kinds of take-away outlet, then infiltrated the industry. Purists maintain that it "doesn't taste the same" in polystyrene or cardboard, as polystyrene cannot absorb any excess oil, vinegar or condensation coming off the hot food, possibly leaving the food less crisp.

Scots often call a portion of fish and chips a "fish supper".

In Edinburgh a combination of Gold Star brown sauce and water or malt vinegar, known either simply as "sauce", or more specifically as "chippie sauce", has great popularity. Many Scottish comedians have made capital out of the difference in condiment choice between Glasgow and Edinburgh, with Glaswegians eating salt-and-vinegar, and Edinburghers preferring salt and sauce.

• See also Anstruther Fish Bar

Ireland

Main article: Irish cuisine

Similarly to England and Scotland in the late 19th-century, Ireland experienced a wave of immigration from Italy after 1945. Hence many of the chippers have "Roma" as part of their name ("The Roma Grill", "Roma Takeaway", etc.), or "Napoli". Famous Italian-Irish families include the Cafolla family, the Borza family, the Macari family and the Mizzoni family.

Most establishments in Ireland continue to serve fish and chips in paper-bags with greaseproof inner-lining bags. Consumers in Ireland normally eat chips with salt and vinegar. Since many of the Italian families didn't have a high standard of English when they first arrived in Ireland, and mainly in Dublin, it has become popular to order a "one and one" (originating from pointing at a menu and asking for "one of those and one of those"), meaning "a fish fillet and chips" or a "single and fish", (a "single" in Dublinese meaning a "bag of chips"). In Belfast a "fish supper" means the same.

The potato pie — a spoon of mashed potato (sometimes with chopped onion and/or cheese) deep-fried in batter — has become an Irish chipper favorite, notably in Cork. In Wexford, the same dish appears as a "rissole". Some rissoles feature batter, but one can also find spicy rissoles — deep-fried in spicy breadcrumbs

Folkways

The long-standing Roman Catholic tradition of not eating meat other than fish 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 patronising fish-and-chip shops; and many cafeterias and similar establishments, while varying their menus on other days of the week, habitually offer fish and chips every Friday.

Chips may have become associated with meals of fried fish because the fat used for frying the fish often became too hot for good frying. To return the fat to an optimal temperature, chefs dropped cut-up potatoes into the fat. Legend has it that shops initially gave the resultant "chips" away free with the fish.

Culinary variations

Skin

Regional differences exist in the United Kingdom for preparing the fish before battering. Some outlets, particularly those in the south of England, leave the skin on one or both sides of the fish, while others (mainly in the north of England, in Scotland and in Northern Ireland) fry a fillet with no skin at all.

Bone

In many southern regions, one usually cooks fish on the bone, rather than filleted as in the north.

The operation of frying

Frying range

Traditional frying uses beef dripping or lard; however, vegetable oils, such as peanut oil (used due to its relatively high smoke-point) now predominate. A minority of vendors in the north of England and Scotland 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 continues in use in some other cases in the UK, especially in Living Industrial History Museums, such as the Black Country Living Museum.

In the UK, waste fat from fish and chip shops has become a useful source of biodiesel.

The chips component of "Fish and chips"

American-style "french fries" typically have a slimmer shape than their British counterpart chips; thicker "fries" sometimes appear on US menus as "steak fries". Thicker slabs of potato result in a lower fat content per portion than with "French fries". Cooking fat penetrates a relatively shallow depth into the potato during cooking, thus the surface area reflects the fat content proportionally. Thick chips have a smaller surface area per unit weight than "French fries" and thus absorb less oil per weight of potato. Chips also require a somewhat longer cooking time than fries.

Lincolnshire White or Maris Piper potatoes produce good chips, although Belgians and Swedes tend to use the Bintje variety. Most traditional fish and chip shops in the United Kingdom make their own chips from fresh potatoes. Most Australian chips (or "hot chips") undergo pre-frying, then freezing before their final cooking.

Batter and its variants

The covering of the fish may also vary with bread-crumbs available alongside the traditional flour-based batter. In the United Kingdom batter comes as the standard coating, with breadcrumb-coated fish unavailable in many outlets.

Fish-and-chip suppliers in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland often include scraps of batter that fall into the fat and get fried (also known as batter, scratchins, scrumps, bits, scrobblings, gribblings, bits, fishbits, crimps, fishcrimps, crispy bits, or batters) free on request. In the United States of America, some fish-and-chips aficionados refer to these as "cracklin's" (distinct from fried pork-rind cracklins).

UK chippies sometimes use beer-batter. The carbon dioxide in the beer lends a lighter texture to the batter, and also an orange colour. A simple batter might consist of a 2 to 3 ratio of flour to beer by volume.

Originally consumers did not actually eat the batter. Instead, it served to encase the fish for steaming, then got discarded.

Choice of fish

In England, haddock and cod appear most commonly as the fish used for fish and chips, but vendors also sell many other kinds of fish, especially other white fish, such as pollock or coley; plaice; skate; and rock salmon (a term covering several species of dogfish and similar fish). In some areas of southwestern and northern England, and the vast majority of Scotland ,haddock predominates. Indeed, in one part of West Yorkshire, the area between Bradford, Halifax and Keighley known as the "Haddock Triangle", very few shops offer cod on their menu. In Northern Ireland, cod, plaice or whiting appear most commonly in "fish suppers". Pollock and coley are regularly offered as budget alternatives to haddock in Devon and Cornwall due to their regular availability in a common catch. A cheap, nutritious, savoury and common alternative to a whole piece of fish is a small battered rissole of compressed cod roe, which can be found in fish and chips shops around the UK.

Consumers in the Ireland eat mostly cod and plaice today. Dublin has a long tradition of eating fresh ray-wings with chips, with a lesser tradition of rock salmon. In the city of Galway (in the west of Ireland), chip-shops commonly offer a wide selection of fresh fish with chips, including monkfish, hake, coley, haddock, skate and scampi.

Australians prefer reef-cod (a different variety than that used in the United Kingdom) or flake, a type of shark meat, in their fish and chips. Victorians tend to prefer flake, whereas Australians in more northern states generally favour reef fish. Increasing demand and the decline of shark stocks due to overfishing has seen flake become more expensive and — as in the United Kingdom — other white fish (such as barramundi) will often replace it. Australian fish-and-chip shops provide a wider range of fish (such as squid) than that commonly available in other countries.

New Zealanders prefer snapper because of its superior taste, but warehou and hoki offer an inexpensive alternative, and gurnard may also appear on the menu. The use of lemonfish has encouraged the use of the popular local synonym for 'fish and chips' - 'shark 'n' taties'. ( Kumara chips, sometimes with sour cream, may supplement potato chips.)

Canadians use a wide variety of fish, including cod, halibut, haddock, pollock and bluefish. Fresh-water species such as yellow perch, walleye and smelt have also become quite popular in Ontario. In Vancouver, wild Pacific salmon has become a popular choice of fish.

In the United States, white fish occur most commonly by far. Salmon can, however, appear on occasion. Southern New England "clam shacks" typically use cod fillets in their fish-and-chips offerings. Minnesotans often use walleye — not necessarily branded as "fish-and-chips" but as "fried walleye" — and involving similar preparation. In the Pacific Northwest, halibut commonly appears. In the Southern United States "fish and chips" commonly comprises catfish and fries with the addition of coleslaw and hushpuppies. The south usually breads the fish with a light dusting of cornmeal, rather than the tempura type batter. Due mainly to the aquaculture industry of the south, catfish has become more commercially available and economical to obtain on a large scale. A few areas around major lakes and rivers may also serve bluegill and crappie in addition to catfish. However, law around serving panfish (bluegill, crappie) commercially varies by state.

South Africans most commonly use hake (Merluccius capensis) for fish and chips. Snoek (Thyrsites atun) has also become popular in Cape coastal areas. Kingklip (Xiphiurus capensis, known as cusk eel internationally) offers a less common and generally more expensive alternative.

In Denmark, deep-fried, breaded plaice fish-fillets served with french fries (Danish, pomfritter) arguably outsells other cooked fish - almost every restaurant in Denmark serves this dish. Traditionally, it has an accompaniment of remoulade sauce and lemon-wedges.

Accompaniments

In the United Kingdom, free salt and vinegar is traditionally sprinkled over fish and chips at the time of serving. Suppliers may use malt vinegar or onion vinegar (the vinegar used for storing pickled onions). A cheaper product called "non-brewed condiment" (actually a solution of acetic acid in water with caramel added for colour) substitutes for genuine malt vinegar in many fish-and-chip shops. Scots tend to prefer white vinegar to malt vinegar. Other standard accompaniments include mushy peas, "chip shop curry", gravy and/or "scraps" (small pieces of left-over batter, usually provided free-of-charge). In the area around Kingston upon Hull, chip spice has become widely used.

In Scotland, preference for accompaniments divide the East and West sharply, with Scots in the East (for example in Edinburgh, Fife and Stirling) preferring a brown sauce known as "chip-shop sauce" or "chip sauce" (in response to the question "Salt and sauce?") whereas those from the West (for example in Glasgow) will have salt and vinegar. East-coasters requesting "salt and sauce" in the West would probably end up with tomato ketchup — to their dismay. The vinegar in the sauce and used for the chips commonly comes from jars of pickled onion; pickled onions or pickled eggs serving as common accompaniments. "Chips and cheese" have also become a popular combination in most parts of the United Kingdom (compare the Canadian dish poutine).

In Ireland salt and vinegar makes for a popular choice, and north of the border many people pour either brown sauce or tomato sauce over the food, and "chippies" (or "chippers") frequently offer these options.

Canadian fish and chip shops offer a variation of condiments including tartar sauce, white, cider or malt vinegar and fresh lemon for squeezing onto the fish. Many fish-and-fry meals in southern Ontario (Toronto region) come served alongside fresh-cut coleslaw as a side dish (usually included at no extra charge). Canadians also favor poutine, a Canadian variation of fries served with cheese curds and gravy.

American diners that offer fish and chips typically provide a side of tartar sauce or vinegar (intended for the fish), with ketchup and mustard usually available on request free-of-charge (sometimes in bottles already on the table).

In Australia the use of seasoning salt on chips has become quite widespread; so much so that even fast-food chains like KFC no longer carry regular salt and use seasoning salt by default. Vendors usually include a small slice of lemon free of charge: the purchaser can squeeze the slice in order to release the juice as dressing. Australian fish and chip shops also widely offer tartare sauce or tomato sauce.

Other popular dressings include:

• Salt and vinegar
• Barbecue sauce
• Brown sauce
• Burger sauce
• Curry sauce
• Gravy
• Cheese (often with gravy/Poutine in Canada)
• Chili sauce
• Garlic sauce
• Mayonnaise
• Tomato ketchup/Tomato sauce
• Summer Savory turkey stuffing and gravy (Eastern Canada)
• Lemon slice (United Kingdom, Canada, Australia)
• Thousand Island Dressing
• Tartar sauce/Tartare sauce
• Salad Cream

Other accompaniments include:

• baked beans
• bread and butter
• bun/breadcake/barmcake/cob/muffin/teacake
• coleslaw
• mushy peas
• pickled onions, pickled eggs and/or gherkins.
• steak and kidney pudding
• chicken nuggets
• calamari rings (Australia)
• potato cake (in Australia)
• dim Sims (Australia)
• souvlaki (Australia)
• clam chowder (usually New England-, Rhode Island-, or Manhattan-style depending on the region)
• clam fritters
• patties (sage and onion) - usually in the East Riding of Yorkshire\

In Holyhead in North Wales, all of the six current chip shops serve 'Peas Water' free of charge - water strained from the mushy peas. This practice allegedly occurs only in Holyhead. The inhabitants of the Wigan and St. Helens areas refer to this product as "Pea Wet", while the mill towns such as Bolton and Oldham tend to refer to "pea soup". "Pea Wet and Scraps" comprise a free meal of the pea water and pieces of batter and chip ends rescued from the frier.

"Wet" can also refer to whether to serve the chips with gravy or not. (Often as a question at serving-time: "Wet?....")

In many parts of Lancashire, the name "split" refers to a serving of chips with a portion of mushy peas. Inhabitants of the Midlands, especially Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, refer to this as a "pea mix"; and to chips and baked beans as a "bean mix".

Locals in the Midlands, particularly in the Black Country, often enjoy battered chips, which gives the chips a distinctive orange hue. Many "chippies" in the region also offer cheesy chips.

In Preston, once reputed the most Catholic town in England, chippies regularly serve butter pie as an alternative to the Catholic practice of eating fish (as opposed to meat) on Fridays.

In Sheffield, chip shops often supply free the locally-produced Henderson's Relish - made of vinegar, sugar, spices etc and resembling Worcestershire sauce — which in Worcestershire itself commonly turns up in chip-shops as a dressing.

In Kingston upon Hull and certain other areas of East Yorkshire, chippies commonly offer chip spice as an accompaniment: this product appears rarely in other areas of the United Kingdom. In Peterborough and other selected places, chip-shops sometimes offer a cajun seasoning as an accompaniment to fish and chips.

Around North America's Great Lakes (especially in Detroit or Chicago), as well as in New England, the popular tradition of Catholics eating fish on Fridays (especially during Lent) has resulted in a codifying of a particular sort of "fish fry", which includes a piece of whitefish (often haddock), a plentiful amount of french fries (generally thicker-cut "steak" fries), potato-salad and/or macaroni-salad, and coleslaw. This dish has become so well established that some supermarkets in the area sell it from their seafood departments, and many local bars serve fish fries every week. During the Lenten season, many churches raise funds by selling fish and chips on Fridays. In Ontario, Canada, a popular variant consists of freshwater perch or pickerel (walleye) — typically sold at lakeside resort towns.

Fish-and-chip shops

Fish and chip stalls in West Bay, Dorset, England

In the United Kingdom and in Australia fish-and-chips usually sell through independent restaurants and take-aways — colloquially known as chippies, chippers or chip shops in the United Kingdom, or as fish-and-chip[s] shops in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Occasionally in these countries stores use the term "Fish and Chippery". Outlets range from small affairs to chain restaurants. In the United Kingdom, punning names for the shops, such as "The Batter Plaice", "Assault and Battery", "The Codfather" or "The Frying Scotsman" often occur. Fish-and-chip outlets sell roughly 25% of all the white fish consumed in the United Kingdom, and 10% of all potatoes.

Fish-and-chip shops vary enormously in the United Kingdom: from small back-street affairs to posh "Fish Restaurants" with seating and with waiting-staff. The UK has a well-known chain called Harry Ramsden's, which originated in Guiseley near Leeds, and now has thirty-one chain restaurants throughout the country (the company also opened an ill-fated restaurant in Hong Kong and in Melbourne, Australia). British fish-and-chip shops sometimes sell other take-away food products, such as kebabs, pies, burgers, Chinese food and pizzas; more frequently the other items sold will involve deep-frying in the same way as with fish and chips, as the establishments often highlight the cooking method (some very traditional British fish-and-chip shops refer to their opening hours as "frying times"). In fishing-towns fish-and-chip shops also commonly sell uncooked fish. Some fishing-town chip shops also offer to fry customers' own fresh fish, charging a fee dependent on the weight of the fish processed.

A variety of fish and chips with fried shrimp, hushpuppies and coleslaw, as commonly served in North America

US fast-food restaurant chains that sell fish and chips include Long John Silver's, Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips, Captain D's, H. Salt Esquire (in California), and Ivar's and Skipper's (in the Pacific Northwest). Most of these chains refer to fish and chips as "fish and fries" or as "combo baskets", as opposed to "platters" (which include coleslaw, however the term "chips" still occurs frequently in the Northwest and Western United States when discussing this dish. (See Burgerville, which generally also serves its baskets with a lemon wedge. A Western United States "combo basket" will often include an additional side dish such as beans or coleslaw, especially in a pub setting.) In the 1990s, the perception within the United States of fish and chips as unhealthy led to a decline in consumption and to financial problems for Long John Silver's and Arthur Treacher's. Other restaurants have acquired these two brands, and the current growth-strategy of both of these chains appears to aim at combining fish-and-chips with other fast food brands to bolster them in the marketplace and to introduce new customers to the meal as a novelty. But some specialist restaurants prepare fish and chips in the full Commonwealth tradition — such as The Park Slope Chipshop in New York City. ChipShop NYC plans to spread around America by franchising. In Canada, Joey's Only Seafood Restaurants figure prominently in the fish-and-chips market with over 100 locations.

Fish and chip shops in the United Kingdom occur commonly near seaside resorts — where tourists and visitors commonly eat fish and chips as a "traditional" seaside meal — but also in both rural and urban settings, with most villages and towns having at least one shop, even in the absence of other fast-food establishments.

The existence of numerous competitions and awards for "best fish-and-chip shop" testifies to the recognised status of this type of outlet in popular culture.

Packaging and wrapping

In the UK most fish-and-chip shops offer a take-away service. They may supply the food either "open" — as individual servings for eating immediately — or "wrapped" — in a closed container or parcel for taking elsewhere. "Open" portions traditionally come in a greaseproof-paper (parchment) bag surrounded by an additional layer of folded paper so that one can hold it in one hand while eating. Britons still speak of a "bag" or "poke" of chips even when individual polystyrene or cardboard trays have replaced the bag. With "open" servings, the chippie usually puts a portion of chips in the bag first, with the fish and/or other accompaniments (such as mushy peas or curry sauce) placed on the top. The customer can usually take free salt and vinegar from the counter to add if wanted. Chippies usually offer disposable wooden or plastic forks for immediate use, although the traditional British way to eat fish and chips requires only fingers.

For "wrapped" servings, the chippie will either wrap the various components into a folded paper parcel or place them in a carrier with the accompaniments in individual containers, for plating up at home. Chippies usually ask customers whether they require salt and vinegar, then add them before wrapping the food.

Fish-and-chip shops traditionally wrapped their product in an inner layer of white paper (for hygiene) and an outer layer of newspaper or blank newsprint (for insulation and to absorb grease), though nowadays the use of newspaper has largely ceased on grounds of hygiene, and establishments often use food-quality wrapping paper instead — occasionally printed on the outside to emulate newspaper. In Northern Ireland, fish and chip meals once came wrapped solely with a couple of layers of newspaper, but concerns over ink-poisoning (especially relating to the use of lead type in newspaper-production) meant the phasing out of this practice. Printing-industry members, however, state that modern newspaper-inks to pose no such health risk. Few chip shops now wrap the food in this way in Northern Ireland.

The steam produced by fish and chips causes paper wrapping to emit a characteristic smell, and the close wrapping prevents evaporation, giving the food a moist texture which can last for some time if the parcel remains unopened. Polystyrene packing, usual in many other kinds of take-away outlet, sometimes appears. Even when the fish get wrapped in paper, an open polystyrene container often holds the chips. The United Kingdom banned the use of real newspaper in the late 1980s. Australian fish-and-chip shops, faced with a ban on the use of actual newspaper in the 1970s, substituted butcher's paper as the external wrapping, though a few shops continue to wrap their product in newspaper, especially in rural areas. Some shops in New Zealand still wrap their fish and chips in newspaper.

Chip vans

Mobile fish-and-chip shops serve rural areas in the United Kingdom, although they can also occur in urban areas — particularly working-class housing estates. Van-operators may favour beef dripping rather than oil for frying in that cold dripping forms a solid mass and will not slosh around when on the move. Such vans also roam Ireland, both north and south, generally trading outside rural nightclubs and at sports-stadia.

Other dishes

Fish-and-chip shops typically offer other hot fast food which customers may eat in place of the traditional battered fish. Typical alternatives offered by English "chippies" may include:

pie

in varieties such as meat-and-potato, steak and kidney, chicken and mushroom, mince and onion, or cheese and onion. Usually factory-made, unlike the pies in pie-and-mash shops. Also, in areas of the south-west, cod-and-potato pies may appear as a rarity, consisting of chips and unbattered cod in a pastry with a similar taste.

sausage

usually pork, deep-fried plain or in batter, or saveloys. Some chip shops use variations or combinations of other British sausages. In South Africa, standard sausages may include a Vienna sausage or simply a vienna (wiener), a frankfurter, a Russian sausage or simply a Russian (spicy pork sausage); all deep-fried or plain.

hot dog

a fried plain sausage, or occasionally a frankfurter sausage, served in a bun.

sausage roll

pork sausagemeat wrapped in puff pastry and baked.

fishcake/Fish Fritter/Fish Slice

fish and potatoes minced together and dipped in batter or bread-crumbs. In Yorkshire, a scallop fishcake consists of a thin piece of fish between two large flat slices of potato dipped in batter and fried. This variant is known as a 'scone' in some areas.

"Dab" or "scallop"

single slice of potato, battered and fried (name changes according to area within the North West of England).

fish pattie or scallop

two slices of potato with a slice of fish (usually cod) in between, always battered. Sometimes also sold as 'Fishcake'.

Pattie

mashed potato and sage , deep-fried in batter, usually served with chips ("patty and chips") as a low-cost meal, speciality of Hull, Yorkshire.

scampi

deep-fried in bread-crumbs.

chicken

deep-fried chicken leg or wing, and sometimes available either plain or "southern fried" in a flavoured, slightly spicy, batter-like coating.

chip butty

chips served between two slices of bread, traditionally spread with butter (now more usually with margarine). The bread most commonly takes the form of a bun or soft bread roll. Regional names for the bread bun create variations such as "chip cob" in Leicestershire and "chip barm" or "chip muffin" in Lancashire and "chip bap" in Staffordshire.

pineapple fritter

a slice of pineapple coated in batter before frying.

kebab/Döner

compressed mince meat, normally sliced from a rotating spit of meat held vertically.

scraps, or scratchings

small pieces of leftover batter from the deep fat fryer, scooped into bags and served alone or as an accompaniment to fish and chips.

spam fritter

a slice of spam coated in batter and fried.

rissole

similar to a spam fritter, but composed of minced meat, usually coated in breadcrumbs.

burger

a minced meat (usually beef) patty, available either coated in fried batter or without.

cheeseburger

a dish of a fried burger with melted cheese inside.

suet pudding , (also known as Rag Pudding in Lancashire)

a steamed savoury pudding of meat and gravy surrounded by suet pastry. Also referred to simply as "a pudding" . Popular varieties include steak and steak-and-kidney.

scallop/smack/slap/special

a slice of potato, battered and deep-fried, in some places cooked without batter.

faggot or "savoury duck"

a meatball or meat patty of pork-meat and liver. Such "faggots" occur most commonly in Wales and in the Midlands of England (especially in the Black Country); "savoury ducks" come from Yorkshire and Lancashire.

steak & salad

usually beefsteak with fresh salad made with lettuces and tomatoes with different dressings. Some takeaways sell them as "combos" and some takeaways sell them separately.

battered chocolate

Chocolate bars such as Mars bar can be deep fried in batter and sold either on its own or with chips. Some fish and chip shops allow customers to bring in their own chocolate bars.

Scotland

Chippies (in some regions "chippers") in Scotland sometimes sell other deep-fried foods (including fruit), such as banana and pineapple fritters, or deep-fried Mars Bars (arguably first developed at the Caron Fish & Chip Shop, Stonehaven). In addition to fruit fritters, potato fritters occur fairly commonly: these consist of roughly 1 cm-thick slices of potato battered and fried. In Scotland the choice of alternatives further includes deep-fried pizza, smoked sausage (a variant of saveloy) either battered or un-battered, Scotch pies, haggis, black pudding, red pudding and white pudding (the latter four served thickly battered in some locales). In testament to the more global nature of food now available in the UK, many modern establishments also sell international dishes such as kebabs and pakora in addition to their domestic products.

In Scotland (especially in the West of Scotland) chip shops often have Italian names referring to the Italian family that owns the chip shop. However this doesn't seem as common elsewhere in the UK.

Ireland

Some chippies/chippers in Ireland offer deep-fried Mars Bars, "batter burgers", hamburgers coated in batter and deep fried and "onion rings", also coated in batter and deep fried. While across the border other meals sold in chippies include "hamburger suppers", chip butties, chicken and chips, "cowboy suppers" and hotdogs. Uniquely in the North one can purchase the pastie bap and pastie supper.

Great Britain generically

In Scotland and northern England the inhabitants speak of a meal of fish and chips as a fish supper or a chippy tea. Similarly, in Scotland one can order a haggis supper, a steak pie supper, and so on. A "single" order comes without chips. As sausages often sell in pairs, a sausage supper may mean two sausages and chips, while a single sausage can refer to two sausages (without chips).

Australia

Australians favour a range of various accompaniments to fish and chips: such as the "potato cake" in Victoria and Tasmania, known as a "potato scallop" in Queensland and New South Wales or as a "potato fritter" in South Australia. Quite distinct from the sea-scallop (also called Tasmanian scallops), it consists of a thick slice of potato, deep-fried in batter. Chiko rolls are also a favourite food item amongst Australians, and were developed in the country. They consist of a thick outer coating, and predominantly cabbage inside. These are deep fried, and were produced in a way so that they would be able to be held in one hand, with a beer in the other, and to withstand the jostling of a sports crowd without spilling.

Other common accompaniments in Australia include calamari rings (deep-fried rings of squid), "battered savs" (a saveloy coated in batter and then deep fried) and crab sticks (deep-fried imitation crab-meat or seafood extender) also known as "Seafood Sticks". Homemade hamburgers may come with a number of added extras including egg, cheese, salad, beetroot and sauce. An increasing number of stores in Australia may also deal in Döner kebabs. The Döner Kebab has only recently become part of the fish-and-chip shop repertoire, however most fish and chip shops have served a version of it since the late 1980s.

New Zealand

Distinctively kiwi items found in New Zealand fish-and-chip shops include paua fritters (typically minced paua and batter), kumara chips, whitebait fritters, and muttonbirds. Scallops, oysters and green lipped mussels also occur frequently, served deep-fried in batter.

A large number of Chinese takeaways offer “Chinese and European food” — where the "European" element consists of everything one would normally find in a fish-and-chip shop — and these establishments often function as the “local chippy″.

See also

• Fried fish
• Fish fry
• Tempura

External links

• "Top UK dish 'hooked French first'": BBC News: Fish and chips invented in France? Retrieved 2008-05-27
• "My plaice or yours?" — article from The Guardian detailing some chippy terminology. Retrieved 2008-05-27
• Far Flung Fish and Chips — historical article
• "Fish and chips": the (UK) Sea Fish Industry Authority's views. Retrieved 2008-05-27
• BBC TWO Ching He Huang Chinese-style fish and chips