Fish and chips

Name: Fish and chips
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: England
Ingredients: 4 large fillets (about 200g each) cod or haddock (thick, fresh fillets, skin removed); 150 g plain flour (for the batter); 50 g cornflour (rice flour or cornstarch, for extra crispiness); 1 tsp baking powder (creates bubbles in the batter, making it lighter); 0.5 tsp fine salt; 200 ml very cold pale ale or lager (carbonation creates a lighter batter; must be cold); Plain flour (for dusting the fish before battering); 1.5 kg Maris Piper or King Edward potatoes, peeled and cut into thick chips (1.5–2cm wide); Sunflower oil or beef dripping (traditional), enough for deep-frying; Malt vinegar and fine salt, to serve; Mushy peas or tartare sauce (optional accompaniment)

Britain's working-class masterpiece: thick cod or haddock in a shatteringly crisp pale beer batter beside a heap of thick-cut chips fried until golden outside and fluffy within, wrapped in paper with salt and malt vinegar: the meal that fed industrial England and became the island's most democratically beloved dish

Origin: England

From the journey of Potato.

Fish and chips is the most important contribution of the British working class to world food culture and the dish that most clearly defines British national identity in food. Its origins are contested but clearly multicultural: fried battered fish was introduced to England by Sephardic Jewish immigrants from Portugal and Spain (pescado frito: fried fish in batter or flour) in the 17th century; the fried potato chip (thick-cut fried potato) arrived separately from Belgium and northern France in the early 19th century. The combination is documented from the 1860s, with the first documented fish-and-chip shop attributed variously to Joseph Malin (an Ashkenazi Jewish immigrant) in East London around 1860, and to John Lees in Mossley, Lancashire in 1863. The fish-and-chip shop flourished in industrial England because it offered the working poor a complete hot meal; protein, starch, fat; for a few pennies, available on every street corner. By 1935, there were over 35,000 fish-and-chip shops in Britain; more outlets than McDonald's has globally today. Winston Churchill called fish and chips 'the good companions'; they were spared wartime rationing. The traditional accompaniments (malt vinegar (or 'non-brewed condiment' in cheaper establishments), salt, mushy peas, and curry sauce in the North) are as much a part of the preparation as the fish and chips themselves.

Ingredients

Fish

4 large fillets (about 200g each) cod or haddock (thick, fresh fillets, skin removed)

Batter

150 g plain flour (for the batter)
50 g cornflour (rice flour or cornstarch, for extra crispiness)
1 tsp baking powder (creates bubbles in the batter, making it lighter)
0.5 tsp fine salt
200 ml very cold pale ale or lager (carbonation creates a lighter batter; must be cold)

Coating

Plain flour (for dusting the fish before battering)

Chips

1.5 kg Maris Piper or King Edward potatoes, peeled and cut into thick chips (1.5–2cm wide)

Fat

Sunflower oil or beef dripping (traditional), enough for deep-frying

Condiments

Malt vinegar and fine salt, to serve

Accompaniment

Mushy peas or tartare sauce (optional accompaniment)

Method

For the chips: rinse the cut potato chips in cold water until the water runs clear (removes surface starch). Dry completely in a clean towel. First fry: cook the chips in oil at 130°C for 8–10 minutes until soft all the way through but barely coloured. Drain and set aside to cool. (This can be done 1–2 hours ahead.)
Make the batter just before you need it: whisk the flour, cornflour, baking powder, and salt together. Pour in the cold beer and whisk until just combined; a few lumps are fine. Do not overwhisk. The batter should be the consistency of thick double cream. Keep cold (over ice if possible).
Pat the fish fillets completely dry with kitchen paper. Dust all over with plain flour, shaking off the excess. The flour coating gives the batter something to grip.
Heat the deep-frying oil (or beef dripping) to 180°C. Dip a floured fish fillet into the batter, let the excess drip off for 2 seconds, then lower carefully into the hot oil (away from you). Fry for 5–7 minutes, turning once, until deep golden and cooked through. Drain on a rack, not on kitchen paper (which steams the underside).
Second fry for the chips: while the fish is draining, raise the oil temperature to 190°C. Fry the blanched chips in batches for 3–4 minutes until deep golden and crispy. Drain immediately, season generously with fine salt.
Serve immediately, piled together on plates (or wrapped in paper for the street tradition). Douse liberally with malt vinegar and fine salt. Accompany with mushy peas and tartare sauce.

Notes

The question of who invented fish and chips has been debated for over 150 years and has regional, ethnic, and national dimensions. The Jewish claim (Joseph Malin in East London, using the Sephardic fried-fish tradition brought from Iberia) and the Lancashire claim (John Lees in Mossley) are the two most documented. The cultural significance is beyond dispute: fish and chips shaped the eating habits of industrial Britain, created the template for British fast food, and survived two world wars, rationing, and the arrival of hamburgers and pizza to remain the defining British takeaway. A 2012 survey found that fish and chips was the meal most associated with 'being British' by British people; ahead of the full English breakfast, Sunday roast, and afternoon tea.

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control