2 Choice of fish

The most common fish used for fish and chips in the UK is cod, but many kinds of fish are used, especially other white fish, such as pollock or haddock; skate; and rock salmon ( dogfish).

In Australia the preferred type of fish is cod (though of a different variety than that used in the UK) or flake, a type of shark meat. Increasing demand and the decline of shark stocks due to overfishing has seen flake become more expensive and, just as in the UK, other white fish is often substituted such as barramundi.

3 Accompaniments

In the UK, fish and chips are usually served with free salt and vinegar. This may be malt vinegar or onion vinegar (the vinegar that pickled onions are stored in). Often something called "non-brewed condiment", which is actually a solution of acetic acid in water with caramel added for colour, is used as a substitute for genuine malt vinegar. In the US, malt vinegar (or, in less well-informed establishments, red-wine or cider vinegar) is often served with the combination as well. A common Canadian preference is for white vinegar on the chips and squeezed lemon on the fish. Scots also tend to prefer white vinegar to malt vinegar.

Scraps – small pieces of fried batter – are also popular with some customers.

Other popular dressings, usually at an extra charge, include:

• Ketchup
• Curry sauce
• Tartar sauce
• Mayonnaise in Europe
• brown sauce
• Gravy

"Side orders" include mushy peas, pickled onions, and pickled eggs.

4 Fish and chip shops

In the UK and Australasia, fish and chips are usually sold by independent restaurants (one of the most famous being the Magpie Cafe in Whitby) and take-aways are colloquially known as chippies or chip shops in the UK¹, or fish shops in Australia and New Zealand. There is one well-known chain based in the north of England called Harry Ramsden's. Roughly about 25% of all the white fish consumed in the UK, and 10% of all potatoes, are sold through fish and chip outlets.

US fast food restaurant chains that sell fish and chips include Long John Silver's, Captain D's , H. Salt Fish and Chips , Arthur Treacher's, and, in the Pacific Northwest, Ivar's. In the 1990s, the perception within the United States that fish and chips were unhealthy led to a decline in consumption and the financial problems of Long John Silver's and Arthur Treacher's. These brands have been acquired by other restaurants and the current strategy of both of these chains appears to be combining fish and chips with other brands to create the concept of fun food. In Canada, the Harvey's and La Belle Province fast food chains sell fish and chips, although this is a minor item in their menus.

Fish and chip shops typically offer other fast food such as meat pies , various sausages including saveloys, and fishcakes , which may be eaten in place of the traditional battered fish. Fish and chip shops sometimes sell other deep-fried foods, anything from chicken to fruit such as banana and pineapple; even Mars bars are served deep-fried (see Deep fried Mars bar), especially in Scotland. In Scotland the choice of alternatives includes haggis, black pudding, red pudding, and white pudding (all served thickly battered). In Australia, perhaps the most popular accompaniment is the potato scallop (called the 'potato cake' in Victoria and not to be confused with the sea scallop) a thick slice of potato deep fried in batter.

In Scotland and Northern England a meal of fish and chips is a fish supper. Similarly, in Scotland one can order a haggis supper, a steak pie supper, and so on.

Fish and chips were traditionally packaged with an inner white paper wrapping and an outer insulating layer of newspaper or blank newsprint, though nowadays the use of newspaper has ceased on grounds of hygiene, and food quality wrapping paper is used instead. Polystyrene packing, usual in many other kinds of take-away outlet, is sometimes substituted.

5 See also

• Wikipedia Cookbook

6 Footnote

1. The term chippy as a noun is, depending upon the language; a fish-and-chip shop or a carpenter (British) or a pejorative term for a prostitute in American English.

7 External link

• BBC News: Fish and chips invented in France?

British cuisine Fast food

minnan:Chì hî kap chips

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