American Reacts to a British Fish and Chips Shop
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- Опубліковано 29 сер 2024
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In this video I react to seeing a fish and chips shop for the first time! I love fried fish but I've never seen a fish and chip shop before. I wish we had these types of places where I'm from. Here we see an American guy not only try working at Poppies Fish and Chips in England, but also watch him try fish and chips for the first time ever. This is definitely something I would enjoy.
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Before health and safety laws stopped it, we used to eat fish and chips out of a newspaper wrapping as we walked down the street. Somehow, they tasted better that way LOL.
ink flavouring used to do something for sure
When I was dating my husband every night on the way home we would collect chippy and it was usual for the vinegar to leak out of the newspaper and our hands would be black from the ink.
Ink was changed that the papers used. The ink didn’t used to stain your hand and when touching a paper, now it does so it would stain all over the food.
One of the good memory's eh 👍.
Oh man, forgot about the newspaper, it really did taste better for some reason.
Poppie was my uncle. Lovely man. Sadly died last year. Hadn’t seen the original UA-cam vid so was a nice surprise seeing him again
Seemed like a great guy. I'm sure the chippy will continue going strong in his memory for many years to come
in the uk eating chips with salt and vinegar is the norm to the point where when you get chips at a takeout place, the question they ask is " do you want salt and vinegar" and if you just want salt or you want any other type of stuff on your chips, you have to specify. it tastes so good. i don't think chips are the same without it.
100%
my fav is the onion vinegar
When the fish is really freshly fried and makes a little hiss when you pour the vinegar on. Mouth is watering now!
Wrong. In certain parts of Scotland the question is 'salt & sauce' rather than 'salt and vinegar'.
@@geezagameeh, true for the vast majority
Fish and chips with salt and vinegar is great
It has to be eaten outside as well. 👍🏻
With a battered sausage on the side and a can of dandelion and burdock
In newspaper?. Hahaha.
Just to blow their minds.
We use Malted vinegar, which is mild with a better taste then normal white vinegar, it brings out the flavour of the fluffy chips and cuts the grease making it a delightful experience. As for fish,a beer batter is best and cod,haddock, place,all fresh ,with mushy peas (cooked marrowfat peas) a perfect meal.
Most chip shops use non brewed condiment rather than regular vinegar as its much cheaper.
Or pickled onion vinegar ,mmmm
With a buttered muffin 👍
Chippys are usually takeaway, malt vinegar on fish and chips is delicious. We have at least 4 local fish and chip shops, 2 of them are really good.
@@royburston8764 muffin with fish and chips!?!? No thank you..
As a side note, we do use the term "French Fries" in the UK, but only to describe thinly cut ones (like the type McDonald's serve for example.
I think it comes from the french term julienne, meaning cut into slim pieces, with a 'French chef's knife' a straight heavy blade, chips is from the the shipwrights, chippy being surrounded by wood chips, rough cuts. But that's just one story.
Yea...French fries is when ordering from McDonalds laah!🫣🤮
French fries?
They're just thin chips. French Fries is "American" for chips.
I am uncomfortable with calling chips "french fries" or "fries" here in the UK. I think it points to a dominance of American culture.
Yes... French fries... skinny tasteless things! At you get far too much oil on skinny chips .... more surface area to get coated.
I’m American we usually call thick cut fries steak fries but it’s not a term we use that often. The individual items by themselves are fish and fries but the dish we would say fish and chips. In Oceanside California we have a place called harbor fish and chips
The only hush puppies I've ever heard of is a type of shoe 😂 they'd be a bit tough deep fried lol
The Scots would give it a go!
Hush Puppies are also a shoe brand in the US.
suede. i recall those.
@@VampireJack10 TRUTH
Thought people had forgotten about hush puppy shoes 😆
Vinegar on chips is essential. You have to try it. Don't do ketchup if you want a sauce, have beans if you want a tomato like sauce, although I'd say try either gravy, curry sauce or mushy peas to go with your fish and chips.
I whole heartedly agree.
I agree as well and vinegar on first, then the salt. The vinegar then helps the salt stick to the fish and chips. Mushy peas all the way for me.
Then i'm gonna have to be the person with the unpopular opinion, but I cannot stand Vinegar.
Salt and Ketchup all the way!
Correct, one must acidulate the hand cut, deep fried, potatoes
@@DraconimLt I like ketchup on home cooked or pub chips but not chippy chips for some reason.
Fish and chips used to be the only sort of takeaway that we had and was affordable, not so much these days when the price of fish has rocketed. Very tasty and sometimes beer battered.
amen, on the price of fish.
I had to chuckle when you said " sounds like there is one in every city" , it's more like one in every street. The smell of fish and chips is amazing. Sadly I can't eat them anymore due to a dietary requirement and walking past a chippy is hell. Definitely try some if you come over, eating them at the seaside is even better.
Back in the sixties I used to pass FIVE fish and chip shops in about a quarter of a mile on the way home from the cinema. As kids we'd ask for "scrumps" which were just bits of batter which really were leftovers from the frying process. They were free. Happy days.
Certainly before we had such large-scale immigration form other countries that was the case, but to be fair, Indian, Chinese, Thai and a whole plethora of Pizza, Kebab and other types of hot food takeaways and restaurants are at least as popular now, in most areas.
Never a truer word, Kim, they always taste better at seaside. ( Brid n Sc/boro in my case)
@@paulharvey9149 curry now is top of the UK takeway list. If I had to guess I'd say Chinese would be a close second, then the traditional chipy.
I know more likely to order an Indian or a Chinese than I am fish and chips. Well I'd personally never order fish and chips, more of a sausage dinner fan.
@@StephenButlerOne LOL, I'm sure you're right!
4.40 Rice is milled to produce a flour called rice cones. It soaks up moisture and helps the batter to coat and stick to the fish ready for frying. Other flour types can be used.
I did not know that.👍🏼
I never knew that.
Rice cones? You live and learn .. I’d never heard of it. Thanks for sharing the info.
I’ve never heard of that either, you learn something new every day as they say 🤷♀️
I keep telling my wife UA-cam educational
One in every city! Mate that’s an understatement. You’re never more than 1/2 mile from a chippy in the UK 😂
Except maybe the north west Scottish highlands, where there are probably a single chippy for seemingly hundreds of miles and not much else except for Highland cattle and maybe a few sheep... but not short of mountains :)
That’s probably an understatement in its self. There’s 8 within a 1 mile radius of my house alone 🤣
Not having a chippy in walking distance means you're actually in the middle of bum fuck nowhere in the UK.
And then you go to the seaside and there's one every few doors
Southend on sea in Essex have a whole row of them opposite the longest pleasure pier in the world entrance and very nice ones
We have a chippy down the road from us. In all my 50 odd years, it's honestly the best I've tried. They use beef dripping, oh it's absolutely beautiful. They're so friendly too if anyone waits outside with their dog, they'll offer a sausage to the dog! Best place ever!
We have a Chinese a few miles away in another village that's also a chippy. I phoned my order through a few times and the owner, a very nice young Chinese lady, now knows me by name, which is kind of spooky. 😂 A few years ago, I visited there around Christmas and, as I left, a little voice from behind the counter went "Merry Christmas". It was her three or four year old daughter. Awwww...
It might take years of your life compared to vege oil but the chips are worth it. Lol
any chance you want to share the name of that place? i promise i wont share it with tik tok lol
@@MacStoker it's Jones The Fish Bar on Chepstow Road, Newport S. Wales 😀
Beef dripping was the best!!! unfortunately, very few chippies use it now.
Whitby - on the north-east coast - is renowned for its fish and chips. The Magpie cafe or the Quarterdeck cafe are my favourites.
There's a really good one in Filey too, I think the name is First Catch, it slips my mind at the moment, we tend to go around teatime and eat them in the car on the seafront in winter, absolutely delicious, makes for a nice afternoon out.
prob half the cost too
And you get called “duck” pronounced “dook” 😂
I’ll be sure to try them I am going to Whitby in February for the first time,Thanks x
Whitby has amazing fish and chips! Probabaly the best ive ever had and im from the other side of the country!
In the North of England there is a chippy as they are affectionately know on most street corners, they where always in walking distance so they are still warm when you get them home. Fish and chips are traditionally complemented with mushy peas; Salt and Malt brown vinegar a must and another must is that they are wrapped in paper and eaten by your fingers when I was a child the chippy near me used to make the wrapping into a bag and you could eat them while walking…..used to love the batter bits they where a real treat but much sort after.
13:48 When my wife moved to the UK i took her to a chippy. She went with just salt. She decided she wanted to try one of mine with the salt and vinegar. She immediately turned around and we walked back to the chippy to get viengar on hers lol
That moment when the vinegar hits the chips. Hits you like being maced with deliciousness.. and mace.
Where is she from? I do the same with my Portuguese friends. They were highly confused as to why I always asked for vinegar on my chips.
@@ScouserLegend Shes from Poland. Vinegar on chips etc doesnt seem that common. Couldnt find salt n vinegar crisps over there so i guess its not a flavour profile they are used to.
its good, helps break down the fat too apparently.
Omg, so good with salt and vinegar! Yum 😋
just imagine what might have happened if you had curry sauce and mushy peas
Most 'chippy's ' are takeaway's, served in paper (though they seem to use boxes now), used to be served in newsapaper at one time.
not just fish, but also pies, pasties, battered sausage,
Several pickled items (eggs, onions, gherkins etc)
Not just towns and cities, but many villages have a chippy too
The best ones are in villages and small towns in my opinion... land locked ones at that for some strange reason... one of the best chippys I've ever eaten was in the Scottish borders in small town called Peebles... also a tiny scottish town called Callander and a town south of Leeds called Dewsbury have incredible chippys... I used to stay in tiny village called Killin and they have a chip van that is second to none... it seems the smaller places put more heart into the art and it always just tastes better.
My village has two lmao
@@RidesandRambling What you're saying definitely matches up, my all time best Fish n' Chips experiences were in a small village on the outskirts of Devon and in the seaside town, Aberystwyth.
Edit: I know my grammar isn't great here
Growing up the best thing was a chip butty. This was a buttered bread roll stuffed with chips with a pickled onion on the side. As an adult I shudder, but secretly think about having one again 🤗
oh yes, a huge bap/bun, cheap thickly spread butter.... super hot chips. Stunning.
A takeaway shop is nearly always better than cafe / pub serving. For me F & C tastes even better at the seaside, perhaps it's the sea air promotes an appetite.
This is the big facts. Get your fish and chips in a chip shop or fish bar (chip shop with a dining area) NOT A PUB.
I couldn’t agree more, much tastier at the seaside if you can eat them before those thieving seagulls get their beaks on them ! 😁🤪
The chippies near the sea get fresher fish if they are good chippies.
Fish, chips and mushy peas, loads of malt vinegar and salt, absolute heaven.😋 You'll find a chippy in nearly every town and many villages in the UK. Mostly they are a take-out food wrapped in paper or on a poly tray...used to be wrapped in newspaper when I was a kid way back in the 60's. Have never seen coleslaw in a chippy unless they also serve kebabs with salad.
More than 1 most times like mines got quite a few it's true British take away also non brewed condiment not malt vinegar close enough though
Several chippies in my average size town, but when we visited Harrogate could not find a single one, just posh eateries, like Gino D'Campo.
We were gutted. And hungry
Some of the sit down places like mc Donalds etc which are also a takeaway have salt bit no vinegar, its tomato sauce or nothing. My oal and myself bring our own vinegar if sitting in to eat, surely there should be a choice. Last time we dined out an elderly gentleman at another table was looking longingly at our vinegar,I asked him if he would like some,he jumped at the offer, Chios without vinegar are useless
I googled "Rice Cone". It's rice which has been milled into a coarse flour and is used to dust the fish before the batter is added.
Never knew it existed and I'm a Brit, learned something new today 😊
I bought rice flour in the local Asian shop... It can be used with flour to add a bit more crispiness
Never heard of it before
Our village has three chip shops as we call them all within a quarter mile of each other. Most towns have dozens of fish and chip shops. French fries are skinny things and absorb the fat making them less healthy than the chunky chips. Rice cone is another name for rice flour to ensure a crispy coating on the fish. I was brought up in a Liverpool fish and chip shop in the fifties…
Being an island, i am sure you will quickly grasp why 'fish' is a common food in Britain
The batter is different in different places. Paignton has an amazing chip shop called Scoffs. Gravy, peas, beans, pickled egg, curry sauce and pickles are the sides mainly. Battered sausage, battered burgers, fried chicken and all kinds of pies. Spam, banana and pea fritters sometimes too.
You'd be directed to a shoe shop if you asked for Hush Puppies in Britain, they are a brand of footwear here! Fish and chips well made are an absolute joy and we have many, many outstanding chippies in every area. There are regional variations in seasoning but salt and vinegar is pretty much universal. I came across chip spice when living in Grimsby and use it for a change sometimes.
Can’t stand Chip Spice though I should as it was invented in my home town Hull. Pattie and chips with Chip Spice on is very popular there.
You can get bad ones too tho. And when a chippy is bad they tend to be really bad. Had Cod and chips in a seaside town in Norfolk and the fish was literally sitting in a pool of grease where they were clearly not cooking it hot enough.
Made in Hull chip spice my home city
I live in a tiny UK village, miles from anywhere. We have 2 fish and chip shops, a chinese take-away, a pizza house and a balti restaurant
It's the same in the next village along from ours, 3 chip shops a few take-aways etc. Our village is so small we don't even have a shop, just a church and an empty pub that closed years ago.
Omg! You've got to have salt and malt vinegar! That's what makes Fish and Chips! Yum! Ask for mushy peas too! Can't wait to see you in the UK trying the local delicacies! 😊🧡😊🎈
The vinegar you get in chip shops is not well there you go it's called non brewed condiment
British fish and chip shops mainly only sell food to take-away and eat at home. Some have restaurants attached, but not many.
when I was in the Police in London i would NEVER accept free food.. It was an honour thing with me. Don;t do it .. gratuities were frowned upon unless permission for sought...... too late if you have scoffed the grub. Plus, sooner or later, it will put you in a difficult position to be impartial when you are trying to deal with something in the future. One day, I was sent to one with a sgt. on official business. antisocial behaviour instances from teenagers and the owner was fed up with it. he ran a good top class establishment and had won awards. He had ONE table, situated in the window. We went to take an initial report and we were not pushed for time. He offered us a sample of his fish and chips.. i declined. My sgt. Accepted. I took a glass of water, with thanks. He directed us to the only table and shouted to the back. Dave.. order a sample plate mate.. TABLE ONE quick as you can .lol lol lol lol. table one indeed! lol lol. still makes me giggle. lol.
Usually seaside chippies have seating.
French fries in America are often skinny whereas these chips in the UK, especially the one from a fish and chip shop are usually chunky, meaning more soft non-greasy potato within each chip and a beautiful crispy surface.
French fries are literally the skinny cut version of chips when you use UK English, you can have crinkle cut, steak cut, straight cut chips. Loads of different types. "Chippy chips" are typically a thicker straight cut chip.
The vinegar is "Malt Vinegar. It tastes completley different from other vinegars. There's other types avaible in UK like White Wine Vinegar, Balsamic Vinegar, Red Wine Vinegar, Rice Vinegar, Rice Vinegar plus more. Malt vinegar has more of an acidic taste to others but taste great over fish & chips
Whitby is the best for fish and chips. It is a fishing village in North Yorkshire so the fish is super fresh. Never coleslaw or hush puppies in UK. Northern fish and chip shops differ slightly with them offering gravy. I was at university in the south of England and got laughed at frequently for having gravy on my chips.
Yeah Whitby is an excellent place. I love that part of the coast and fish n chips from there are as good as you get but I’m originally from Suffolk and I would say the Suffolk coast is pretty damn close in the fish n chip quality. We could argue on that one for the rest of our lives.
Curry sauce is more common down south than gravy
@@alpey8487 I live in Lake District now where my daughter was born and grew up. We went to Suffolk to visit family and my daughter ask for gravy at fish n chip shoo. They thought she was from another planet
Yep that’s true.
Had one of the worst fish n chips in Whitby ruined what had been a great day.
We live in the middle of the country(Devon), we have 3 fish and chip shops within 6 to 7 miles, plus mobile chip wagons call into the area twice a month.
Poppies constantly rates as one of the best "Chippies" in London. Rice Cone is a rice flour, it helps the batter to stick to the fish. You said every city has a Fish & Chip shop , in fact most major cities have dozens of them. I'm in south London and there a 3 within a ten minute walk from my home
I'm not even in a major city, just a small town, and we've got at least four or five in that same radius.
Small town and we have so many at least 5
Even my local Chinese started doing fish and chips five years ago. It's shyte though 😆
I've always thought plan flour was used
The best place to get fish and chips is in a seaside town not London. Some places make beer batter which enhances the taste.
For what it's worth, chip shops generally don't have vinegar available - most people _call_ it vinegar, but it's actually something called "non-brewed condiment". Some folk can't taste the difference, but to those who can it's a completely different taste altogether. You really do need to try it, but you need to have plenty of salt on there too.
Never heard of that tbh. The one I worked in had malt vinegar, would never have thought any chippy didn’t have actual vinegar
@@mcfcpat1231it arrives concentrated, and they have to water it down. It is non alcoholic and gluten free, unlike malt vinegar, so it suits customers on special diets, the same as using rice/tapioca flour instead of normal wheat flour.
It's just acetic acid with colour, which is also in vinegar, the flavour is almost identical.
Rice cones are produced by milling rice into a coarse flour. They are widely used to dust fish before applying batter. A light application of rice cones onto wet fish helps absorb excess moisture. The rice cones create a bond for improved batter adhesion and prevent the batter from spitting during frying
In Yorkshire, in the North of England you get a completely different dish when you ask for ‘fish and chips’ - you always get haddock when you ask for fish, and we cook in Beef dripping which in my opinion gives a far superior flavour to vegetable oil like they use in the South. Us Yorkshire folk are usually appalled when we try fish and chips anywhere else around the country 😄
Im from Yorkshire, n i can never get over how pale the chips are in other parts of the country!!!
I mean just look at the chips in this video 😲🤣
It's what you grew up with, of course it's better.
My fav fish is haddock!😊
I live in Kent & believe me I miss my take-away Fish 'n Chips cooked in Dripping wrapped in Newspaper, now we're out of Europe perhaps the old ways will make a comeback 🤞I for one am definitely hoping so.
@@davefrancisjarrett3563 what does out of Europe have to do with fish and chips ?
Ok…Watching this 2:40 am in England….and now I really want some from my local chippy. Drooling already!
I think one really big advantage of the UK is our size and that we are an island, you’re never that far from the coast. I think the furthest distance you can be is 84miles or 134km, so finding good seafood is never far away. Whitby is a coastal town on the North East coast of England and is considered one of the best places for fish and chips!
It is closer to 75 miles
Fish and Chip shops are commonly known as Chippys and are not the same as fish and chips served say for instance in a pub, cafe or some other food places. Some chips may be cooked in beef dripping but mainly oil is used these days. Again sometimes the batter may be a beer batter but normally it's just as it was on this video. Dependant on where you are, additional items such as mushy peas, curry sauce or gravy may be added. Salt and vinegar is part of the experience, some chippys will ask you if you want salt n vinegar, some may even assume you want it and put it on. Fish and chips used to be wrapped in newspaper but now a variety of wrappings including paper, card boxes, polystyrene trays or card cones are used, you may get a plastic or wooden fork of taking them out. Although if you do have fish and chips at a seaside location and take them outdoors, be aware you may have other 'diners' who want to 'help themselves' or 'relieve you' of your fish and chips...seagulls!
If the owner of a fish and chip shop values their business and reputation they usually do use beef dripping as the main fat for cooking purposes. Those who try to use vegetable oil or other oils very often find that the footfall of customers tends to decrease, due to their oils not maintaining an acceptable taste for the majority of their customers, an uncle of mine actually used to own a chippy for a number of years and the previous owners had very nearly gone broke, before my uncle bought the whole business at a very good price. They had been using a vegetable oil to cook in and didn’t understand why their sales were falling. My uncle’s first move was to get rid of the old oil and purchase a supply of beef dripping and his next move was to put up a sign in the window stating that the shop was open under new ownership and that they were now back to cooking in best beef dripping. During the first week after opening they took twice the amount of money than the previous owners had done in their last month in business and when he eventually sold up and retired he said that he had made better than twice the price that he had paid in the first place.
@@andrewcoates6641 Just shows doesn't it and I'm glad your Uncle took the move and it paid off for him. Thanks for sharing this.
A UK staple food , you don't really see much fish n chip shops in the UK anymore but when you do find one , they're delish !
The best fish and chips in the UK will ALWAYS be from coastal towns (I’ll let you lot argue that out between yourselves 🤣). We are tiny islands and the fish will usually be caught the same day 😁
Yea true. Had from Southend and hastings and a few more and can't beat it
Indeed! Brixham is a couple of miles from where I am. So many fish and chips shops here.
Yep, I'm from London but now live at the coast. Can't beat sitting by the Sea munching on a bag of chips.
@@101steel4 While avoiding the seagulls lol we have to warn him not to feed them!!
When I was really young we used to do days out to the north east coast just to eat fish and chips and then come straight home
Most young people will never know the gorgeous taste of traditional fish 'n chips...deep-fried in LARD. The taste and texture is totally different from that cooked in oil, and much less greasy. I make my own at home and it's awesome. Just ask seniors.
I have to agree with you Annemarie!
Totally agree, Also wrapped in news paper. Just made it taste so much better.
There was a local place that also fried the chips in beef dripping rather than vegetable oil, similar effect.
Traditionally home cooked chips like my mum made back in the 60/70's were cooked in beef dripping (fat) my job used to be going to the butchers for mum to buy the fat to fry the chips in..... Now a days most chippies (shops) don't use beef dripping as expensive and now use vegetable oil as it can be used at the high temperatures needed to cook the potatoes and doesn't taint the food also vegetarians are able to eat them. As kids we were always asking for screeds (or batter bits) which were free, they were the little bits of batter which dropped off the fish etc! This is one of our traditions however I am lead to believe it originated from a similar dish the Dutch have and came to Britain around the 2nd world War... or before, not quite sure! What ever else you do, you must try them!! 👍😍❤️
@@thomasmumw8435 At least in the midlands we would call those 'batters' and you could have those as an extra. There is no way enough would come off the fish to satisfy demand, so I think they would drizzle extra batter into the fryer by itself to create enough.
One thing is to ask for is scraps it's the batter that leaves the fish when dipped into the fryer.
The chippies in Scotland do tend to have other items on the menu like haggis, black pudding, white pudding, smoked sausage, etc. Sometimes deep fried Mars bars, pizza. Usually the food is wrapped in paper and either taken home or eaten from the paper on the move. The English are usually offered salt and vinegar, in Scotland it's different it's salt and sauce. A lot of chippies both in England and Scotland will also offer pizza and kebabs, it varies from shop to shop.
Yeah, "Sauce"... Chippy sauce is one of those magical things that is so simple yet impossible to recreate... I remember my local chippy when I was growing up started selling bottles of their home made sauce put in old Bru bottles with a hole puched in the lid... As far as I'm aware it's just cheap brown sauce, with water and a touch of vinegar added and that's it... but every time I've tried, it just doesn't taste the same.
I lived in Inverness for a while, the fish they fried was Whiting, which is not a patch on cod or haddock. I saw someone buy pie and chips and asked for the pie to be dipped in batter and deep fried, gaah!
@@Wordavee1 I recently moved from Inverness after spending 10 years there but in all honesty I couldn't find a good chippie. The menus were good and variable but not the quality. It was ok but...
Forgetting about the Mars bars! lol
@@chriswoodside5385
I agree, not sure what potatoes our local uses, but they are vastly superior in taste to the ones in Scotland. I lived there in the 80's, the beer was dreadful too!!
Don’t forget scrapings! Those little bits of the batter that float off the fish when frying. In some parts of the U.K. you can’t get separate servings of these. Crunchy and delicious 😋
we used to get them free from the local chippy on the way home from school
You're right, only ever seen scraps (as we call 'em in Lancs) in the North!
@@slashdisco we call this griddle in the south west
bag 'abits with vinegar !
I was born in the late sixties, when I was a kid in the seventies, they used to be called squeakers, due to the sound they made in the oil!
I worked as cook/fryer in a coastal restaurant that served award-winning fish and chips in Devon back in my late teens, so this was a blast from the past to watch! Yep, there definitely is a technique to cooking the perfect fish and chips, and it's at every stage; from the flouring and battering of the fish, to laying it gently in the oil (you have to unlearn the natural instinct to keep your hands as far away from the oil as possible, which is somewhere between 350-400f and has a tendency to spit if there's any residual water,) to being able to tell when the fish is perfectly cooked. I'm sure it looks like an easy job if you've never done it, but there's quite a bit of skill involved. Oils can vary; in the restaurant I worked in it was vegetable oil, in order to ensure the chips would always be vegetarian-friendly (we cooked them in a separate fryer from the fish and other battered items,) but other places can use everything from lard to beef dripping in their oil.
Oh, and the vinegar they use in fish and chips is a very different type of vinegar - it's a malt vinegar, and honestly, it's MADE for fish and chips!
You have to have malt vinegar with chips
Most chippies don't use malt vinegar, they use NBC
Normally it's now non brewed condiment, to be acceptable to those who can't take alcohol, as well as those who can. It also arrives concentrated, and the chippy have to dilute it. This saves on transportation costs.
Every town and village pretty much has their own chippy. As a northerner I almost fainted at the price of the fish... but I suppose that's London for you! I think you should try a chippy in a couple of different places in the IK for the regional variations.
Ours must be one of the only villages in Yorkshire that doesn't have a shop of any description we have to go to the neighbouring villages to get a take away and groceries etc
@Fifigoesforth In the North, that chippy would go bankrupt, no one here would pay £14:50 for chish n fips! 🏴🇬🇧
yeah I'm from Manchester and lived in London for the past few years and i SO missed Northern chippies. Londoners just don't know how to do it as well.
@@fifigoesforth4102 And I thought £9 down in Devon was expensive...
@@Paul-hl8yg am sure there are plenty of chippies in London that dont charge that, must be in a posh bit
I also live in the middle of nowhere in the Uk, we have 3 or 4 chip shops within 10 mins, although my nearest one is run by Turkish people. You have to have salt and vinegar on your fish and chips, it’s practically the law!!
The Scots seem to favour 'salt and sauce' - the sauce being a brown sauce thinned with vinegar.
@Angela Davies nope dont have salt and vinegar on mine
@@johnnyenglish5976 I'll have salt but no vinegar for me....I've always hated the stuff.
In Ireland, they're called "chippers", and they're the most common type of takeaway. They're everywhere. Pretty much the stereotypical takeaway if you're not looking for something specific like a Chinese or Indian. I was always wondering what the American equivalent was, and tried looking it up before, but never found anything.
Hotdogs 😂
Ireland, where the spice bag was invented. A literal fusion of British Imperialism in a bag, or more usually a small pizza box.
Hush Puppies are a brand of shoe in the UK. Also, Chinese chippies are a thing here too. This is essentially a Chinese takeaway and chip shop combined.
And the chips are never as good.
Our local is a Turkish restaurant/fish and chip shop combined! The f & c is excellent!
Hi Steve and thank you for promoting our culture. Fish n chips from the Chippy is a must if you come to the UK. I would say within our towns and cities there are thousands of Fish n Chip shops or Chippys. A Fish n Chip Restaurant or Seafood Restaurant are different in the UK from the local Chippy. You can get all sorts from the Chippy is Fish n Chips, pies, sausage, fish cake, scampie, chicken nougats, kebabs, the list goes on depending on the owner. The food comes in paper or a box not on a plate.
I really enjoyed this American and British food thing . Glad our American friend enjoyed making fish and chips . A great honour indeed
Using rice and/or tapioca flour serves two purposes. They not only don't absorbe as much liquid, keeping the batter crisp, but they're also gluten free, which is good for those on a special diet.
Fish n chips were a religion on Fridays for Dinner when I was growing up in Yorkshire. Mushy peas is the best with the dish. Rice cone is a flour, but many chip shops do different flours depending on the shop.
Fish, chips n mushy peas or curry sauce.xx
My friends and I would get a chip butty for 50p and 20p fish from the chip shop across the road from my school for lunch. My favourite chippy uses groundnut oil and it tastes just like it did when I was a kid on my way home from swimming on a Saturday. I think there are chip shops on pretty much most main roads on London.
We have Hush Puppies, they are a type of shoe, not usually deep fried 😂
😂😂😂😂😂 This made me laugh out loud!!!
When I was a child growing up in the 60's and 70's fish and chips was a very cheap meal, four of us would eat this every single week....now it's far too expensive to eat regularly as it would be well over £20 now and more of an occasional treat....prices really shot up after the late 90's. There used to be multiple fish and chip shops within close proximity in every town and many had great reputations for having the best fish and chips going. I remember when we bought fish n chips for a sixpence!
I remember this as well from the Seventies. An entire breaded Cod fillet over a foot long and a mountain of fries were less than $3. These days, if you can even find a fish fry joint, you’re looking at $20 or so for half the amount of food. Fortunately, I live on the New England shoreline so there are still a few places around.
Population ridiculous now...fishing quotas now expensive
I own a fish shop and like poppies we do offer other servings too. I guess that is because of our colonial past and the fact that my country is a fish heaven.
Limes is commonly used on fish here . The vinegar is used to wash the fish,not as garnish.
That looks like a lot of acid.
I was fortunate enough to be born and raised in Grimsby, which during my childhood claimed to be the largest fishing port in the world, sadly the port has closed down mainly but the Town still handles over 30% of fish products in the UK. In Grimsby the basic fish and chips vary in quality, however, if you hadn't already asked , you will be asked which fish, Cod, Haddock,(Grimsby's favourite), skate, rock salmon(Dogfish), haike, dover soul, plaice, you can even get cheeks and tongues( which are supposedly a delicious part of the fish). The fat used is mostly beef dripping, but some of the cheaper/newer shops use as it is less expensive and they don't know any better. you will be offered mushy peas, gravy, curry sauce or baked beans. along with your meal but there are alternatives to regular fish such as meat pies, chicken, sausages, burger patties, spam fritters, fish cakes or fish patties (they are different). One thing that seems to hold true within the Grimsby area is fish shops where you can sit down and eat usually are not one of the best shops to sample(of course there are exceptions but not many), the best are the shops that have a line out the door often run my and older person and his/her family.
Scartho Fisheries is the best.
I taught at Lindsey Comprehensive in Cleethorpes back in the early 80's. The fish and chips were amazing. Big oval plate and the fish still dangles off the sides. Then a big plate of bread and butter. And loads of old ladies with 'done' hair were beetling about with brown bessie pots of strong tea to wash it all down. happy days. (Shame about it being freezing cold for 9 months of the year, but you can't have everything.)
The vinegar helps cut the greasyness of it lol
Fish and Chip shops almost on every corner in New Zealand 🇳🇿. Love Fish n chips with either tarter sauce or lemon or lemon salt or chicken salt & lastly malt vinegar. The trick us Fresh Fish or Frozen Fish. Fresh is my favourite.
You don't go to London for good fish and chips, you go to a small seaside town where the chippy has a blackboard showing the name of the local fishing boat that the fish came from that day.
In Scotland there are subtle differences. Some are famous - yes, battered and deep-fried chocolate bars are a real thing, though even having grown up there I’ve never felt the need to sample them - but others are less expected.
For instance, if you were to order a pizza at some of my local chippies in southwest Scotland, they’ll take a frozen pizza slice out of the freezer, dip it in batter, deep-fry it, and then ask you if you want salt and vinegar on it.
Another Scottish curiosity is that we use the word “supper” to mean “and chips”; a fish supper is fish and chips, haggis supper is haggis and chips, soss supper is sausage and chips and so on. And yes, you can order a chip supper for a double portion.
awmperry - Deep fried battered Mars Bars. Heart Attack makers.
Yup, the DFMB is the classic. In my area they usually just list "deep fried chocolate bars" as the price of any chocolate bar plus a charge for the batter and frying. :😀
I am in Birmingham and I have 4 chip shops all within 1/4 of a mile of my house. The one closest is about 50 yards away and is also a drive through.
We have an annual fish & chip shop awards so whichever city you visit you will be able to look up which chippy in that area is award winning to help you decide where to visit.
Salt and vinegar on the chips are very common in the UK. They are 100% better with these, trust me lol. And WARNING: NEVER order a large portion of chips lol. Regular is very filling enough, I can barely get through a regular (and that is without the fish, jumbo sausages etc).
Large chips with plenty of salt and vinegar and a large battered sausage is my usual order... though sure, it can be tough to get through the whole thing sometimes lol... also, portion sizes vary a *lot* between chippies
Traditional British Fish n Chip shops are all pretty much the same with mainly the same menu but you won't see any corn..meal(?) or other corn products. Probably because corn isn't a standard crop in this country, wheat, oats and barley are our main crops. You wont find stuff like corn dogs etc either.
We even served fish & chips as a late night snack at our wedding. It really perked everyone up. Deep fried is pretty much the only fish my wife will eat.
As an experiment you could try something we call potato scallop which is sliced boiled potatoes dipped in batter then tried but you must use salt and vinegar on them to eat.
Salt and vinegar on fish and chips is divine, you don’t know what you are missing, curry sauce on fish and chips is also divine
I remember getting what was called a “cone of chips”. It was chips served it a cone shaped wrapper
Loved your reaction to his reaction about not having Fish and Chips Before. It is a culturral thing, but Fish and Chips from the Chippy was always a treat growing up. Thursday night or Friday night might be Chippy night depending when your parents got paid. You looked forward to something from the Chippy and having some choice and something different. We ate pretty basic food ouiside of special occasions etc. :)
Also, depending on your age, the chips were wrapped in newspaper back then so you had something to read or, result, Page 3 of the Sun.
Fun fact most English people aren't aware of: in pretty much all chip shops, we don't actually use malted vinegar but instead, a substitute called 'non brewed condiment'. It has the same sour taste without the horrible smell.
It's cheaper and IMHO not as nice but what you say is true. I don't personally think it has the same depth of flavour as malt vinegar.
Ian I totally agree I loved fish supper wrapped in newspapers brings back memories um 67 years old here lol
Surprisingly, malt vinegar on the fish is very tasty. Remember, the idea is to try everything. I'm definitely not a lover of black pudding, but I did try it once. I'll never forget I once worked with a woman who spent 3 weeks in Europe and only ate at McD and Wendy's because "the food was different."
I bet even the McD's quality was different though as EU food regulations are bang tight.
I went on a field school to portugal and there’s always 1 or 2 Americans who refuse to eat anything other than chips and something like chicken nuggets. It was just basic traditional European food like beef or pork and potato and they refused to even look at it.
Fish and chips tasted amazing in most places but if you get the chance to have it in a coastal town where the fish has just been landed that morning, it’s even better.
Friday evening after doing the food shop the local chippie got a look in. Getting the Fish batter right and cooked in the right oil..... Perfect.
Fish and chips are amazing with some salt and vinegar, you also need to try mushy peas . The oil is often vegetable oil like sunflower oil , and here in the UK not only does every city have a fish and chip shops but every town and a lot of small villages have them . Oh and here Hush puppies are a type of shoe lol .
Yea you definately dont want to eat a batter deep fired Hush Puppy
It’s well worth trying some of the extras too when you come over: gravy, mushy peas, curry sauce can really make it sing!
Quick note: Battered fish was introduced during WW2, and the batter used was a way to cook the fish inside it. Due to the lack of food, people began to eat the batter, and still scoff it to this day.
Nonsense fish and chips started in the 1860's in London and then spread a cross the UK. Fish n chips was very popular in the second ww as it was not rationed.
The best fish & chips I’ve ever eaten was a few months ago in Blackpool. I find fish & chips tend to taste better in the northern part of England.
You'll love proper cod and chips. I'm agree with you on the vinegar and tartar sauce. Keep it simple with just a squeeze of fresh lemon juice over the fish is possibly all it needs .
I just checked. We have six fish and chip shops in a two mile radius. I live in the Black Country
In Scotland we generally cook everything in the fryer - fish, pies, sausage, pizza the lot. Having also lived in the South & North West of England I reckon the Fish & Chips gets better the further North you go.
Vinegar is a must, along with salt & Brown sauce 😁
The English menu looks so bare n empty. I’d feel deprived n homesick living in England 😊
The best fish and chips are in the south west of England, Brixham - home to England’s biggest fishing fleet.
@@healingandgrowth-infp4677 We do have other food you know ;) Chippy menus are generally pretty bare because they are generally very small establishments. We have a lot of 'Chinese chippies' and they have all manner of Chinese food as well as regular fish and chips. One of my local chippies ( there are 4 or 5 within 2 miles of where i live) also has a cafe attached and sells various other takeaway meals too, chicken, liver an onion, sausage in onion gravy, chile con carne, burgers, kebabs etc all with chips of course!
Of course we have salt n vinegar on our fish and chips, it goes together well and is traditional here in the uk ..
Malt Vinegar is a MUST with fish and chips for most people I know. Sometimes lemon juice, or tartar sauce at the side (I usually just have tomato sauce). Couldn't imagine fish and chips without vinegar, I would be amazed if you didn't like it. Have to get the right salt balance with the vinager though
There are a few other things on the menu (that are always intended to go with the fish and chips). Including; mushy peas, pickled eggs and gherkins, and a range of pies (steak/chicken, etc.), saveloy sausage or sausage in batter. And then you might find some specials...like Mars bar in batter!
fucking savaloyt shite southern fairy food.
I think chips and French fries are not the same thing …. French fries are thin sticks and are generally very pale golden colour and chips are chipped off the potato, as the gentleman said, and are generally thicker, less regular in shape and are often cooked twice or even three times to a darker golden colour …. We do also have French fries in UK too
BTW try a pickled egg with your haddock and chips!
If you’re not keen to try malt vinegar, we also enjoy fresh lemon squeezed over the fish
And worth underlining our crisps are crisp, our chips are chipped. But American chips are sliced.
I disagree. Chips - short for chipped potatoes - is self-explanatory. French Fries are usually are cheaper and much thinner processed version - the phrase was almost non-existent in the UK before McDonalds started to open everywhere, during the early 1980s.
@@paulharvey9149 that’s what I said but without mentioning the financial aspect and Macdonalds …. And, of course, French fries originated in Belgium
@@deniseblake6214 I beg your pqrdon - I read what I thought I saw, and didn't notice you word 'not.
@@paulharvey9149 no problem 😊
Most chip shops use vegetable oil or rapeseed oil but some places in the north used beef dripping.
fish and chip shops are everywhere over here. there's one basically right outside where i live. different shops use different oils; normally it's a type of vegetable oil, but other places use things like animals fats like beef tallow, but that is much less common now
I’m a 57 year old Australian and have lived all my life enjoying fish and chip shops. They are an Aussie staple. I love hush puppies, would love a hush puppy shop here. 👍😁❤️🇦🇺
Uk is an Island so go without saying fish now and Wedges for me 🐎🐎
I'm from Mississippi, we have plenty of hush puppies here 😁😊♥️
What are hush puppies?
@@leeriches8841 Balls of cornmeal battered and deep fried 😋
I'm a brit, but the best fish and chips I've ever had was on Hook Island in the whitsunday Islands in Australia. Not sure what the fish was, but super tastie!
Theres a fish and chip shop in almost every city, town and village. We live in a town and we have 3 of them all in a 15 minute walk. Theres probably over 20 in our town alone.
My fave is cod fish, chips and mushy peas, tons of salt and vinager 😍
I was born and raised in England and have lived in Scotland for the last 18 years, so I’ve seen my share of fish and chip shops here and they range from fantastic to mediocre. Thankfully in Scotland, they tend to be pretty fabulous! I’m moving to California later this year and I have visited a specific fish and chip shop there. The chips were definitely fries, but overall the quality was good and I enjoyed the meal (or at least, what I could eat of it as the portion sizes there are wild!). 😊
Moving to California, People are leaving there in large numbers, be very sure before going there.
I’m very jealous of you, I want to visit England and Scotland soo bad!! I was born and raised in California, moved out seven years ago, best decision I’ve ever made!! Good luck to you!
@@paulhemmings-pp2uu i moved to the USA 10yrs ago best move i ever made i live in the UP Michigan far way from big cities. Way of life is so relaxing people are alot more friendly here than back in UK.
Oil used is usually vegetable oil or beef dripping (the latter being your more old skool traditional chip shops) and yes we do flatfish too like flounder but usually we fry plaice as our choice of flatfish
I had to pause and search 'rice cone' myself there! Apparently it's rice flour. Never heard of this for pre-coating as I usually just use plain (all purpose) or cornflour, but I'm intrigued now! 😅
I found that place very odd, despite his boasts. Rice flour? And Garden peas? Soft southerners again! Didn't look that great to me. A bland batter and a bland chip
Rice flour is nothing like wheat flour or cornflour. It's slightly coarser but coats the fish in a very light layer, this prevents the thick bready layer under the batter which in turn makes the batter crisper..
Fish and chips is such a classic British takeaway food. Just various cold water sea fish fillets, chipped potatoes, batter and oil is all you really need. They usually also sell rotisserie chicken quarters, dry rotisserie spare ribs, hot pies, saveloys, fishcakes, battered burgers and plain and battered sausages. With giant pickles (gehrkins) , pickled eggs, bread rolls and curry sauce available. Pease pudding in certain regions. Seasoned with salt and vinegar substitute. Which has to be described as "non-brewed condiment" by law.
Chips, cheese and onion patty, gherkins and a brew (cup of tea) ….best fast food ever!! Has to be in paper and drowning in vinegar and lots of salt. 😋🤤 Best wishes from the South Coast of England. ❤😊🇬🇧
Definitely
Best way to cook a chips its to blanch them, meaning you half cook the casket of chips, drain and settle them, then they dry and when a costomer comes in you put them back in the fryer to be double fried plus it takes an additional extra 3 minites of frying and helps with the ques also, i used to use a potatoe rumbler which is like a cement mixer but for peeling off the skin the potatoes with a hosepipe, saves the manual labour of peeling a potatoe, i worked in the world famous celtic mannor in newport, see all the celebs, but now im a hgv driver but damn i enjoyed cooking, just very unsociable hours.
Why do I love watching you so much?!
Your wonderment at our funny, British ways is so touching. Please come to the UK!
I’m 2 minutes from the beach in England and have fish and chips at least once a week. Vinegar of the chips and maybe ketchup is good. There are loads of chippies in my area….so many. 😋
Friday
@@sarahclapp505 Any day, but you are right, Friday is traditional.
@@angelataylor2049 payday for me or at mum and dads they live on the coast
Me too I live on the East coast in Whitby lots of chippies here - I used to work in one making ice cream desserts for the restaurant and also selling ice cream in the kiosk 🍦🍨🍧
Our son worked in the local chippy for several years. Most people order cod & chips. Some add ‘mushy peas’ or a pickled egg or gherkin. The next most popular are battered sausages. Most larger villages have at least 1 chippy. You’ll find coleslaw at the kebab house. There’s often one as part of the chippy or as a stand alone place.
You'll also often get asked if you want batter with it, the loose drips that get fried and accumulate within the cooker and get raked out. Kebab places alongside chippies, not good, They usually drag quality down, its the first step before they start making shortcuts and the place closes down.
When I was a little girl (in the 70’s) there weren’t really any other take always for cheap food. Burger bars came a bit later and Chinese/Indian restaurants were for bigger meals. Loved getting my chips in open newspaper to eat walking home. Always have malt vinegar on my chips and mushy peas, sometimes curry sauce. There are chip shops all over the U.K., there is one 10minutes walk from my house in a suburb of a tiny town. Still very popular although not as cheap as it used to be 😮
That's a good point, ms burnett. Never thought of it, but very true. For us plebs there were "greasy spoons" and chippy's.
I remember Wimpy in the 70s. Vaguely remember they weren't fast food, more like a cafe/diner. McD pretty much put them out of business in 80s.
There isn't just one in every city. There are lots in most towns, and then there are the mobile ones. You can make your own with a deep fat fryer and a bit of trial and error. Rock (or rock salmon) is actually a little shark.
I live in a verry rural part of Wales and there are 3 fish and chip shops in a 10 min drive from us, it's also common for kebabs to be sold in fish and chip shops or pysgod a sglodion as its called in wales
@@simonupton-millard good old sgod a sglod. There are a couple of decent chippies here in Aberystwyth; benefits of living on the coast
Known as a Dog Fish
@@Paul_W.E_Ingham It's quite nice too. But apparently endangered now, so people should avoid it.