Fish and Chips, It's a Serious Business

We all know that our native countries have there own special dishes, foods that mean more to us than just the taste. They can evoke memories, and feelings of times gone by. It's the familiar feeling it brings, even if the food isn't that great. I can remember going back home to the UK after dreaming of the foods that I missed so much and couldn't wait to taste again, only to discover that steak and kidney pie was actually pretty dreadful, canned spaghetti hoops on buttered toast was revolting and sliced bananas covered with canned custard actually turned my stomach. How on earth could I have loved these foods so much? It was nostalgia and definitely not taste.

However there is still one native dish that I'll always love, and there's no other food that brings up so many nostalgic memories for me than Fish and Chips. Some of my favorite youthful memories involve freezing cold nights, hanging out with my mates (friends) getting chips dredged with lots of salt and malt vinegar, the anticipation of opening them up, letting the steam warm my face and the chips warm my hands, oh the smell and taste was magnificent. When we had no money, the nicer chippy's (aka chip shop) would let us have the scrapings for free, bits of batter that had floated off the fish and other battered foods like sausages, haggis or meat patties, (balls of mashed potatoes with minced beef, battered and fried.) 

Back in the 70s and 80s the chippy's still served them in old newspaper, until of course the goody two shoed, fun police, the "I know what's best for you!" health department put a stop to that. A lot of people swear that they don't taste as good now and that the print from the newspaper gave the fish and chips a certain 'Je Ne Sais Quai' flavor, is ink a food group?

If you don't think fish and chips is a serious business in the UK then just read these facts that I have taken from 'The National Federation Of Fish Fryers' Yes there really is such an organization.

There are currently in the region of 10,500 specialist fish and chip shops in the UK.                                  

These dramatically outnumber other fast food outlets: McDonalds has only 1,200 outlets, KFC 840.

British consumers eat some 382 million meals from fish and chip shops every year including 167 million of just fish and chips . That's six servings for every man, woman and child.

Annual spend on fish and chips in the UK is in the region of a staggering £1.2 billion!

80% of people visit fish and chip shops at least once a year. 

22% of people visit fish and chip shops every week.                                                                   

56% of people buy fish and chips to eat in the home as a family meal.

Even the posh people at Royal Ascot love Fish and Chips, the green stuff is mushy peas

Debbie Coenen 3/11/2018