FISH AND CHIPS CHINESE AT UK #FISHANDCHIPS

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• published: 10 Aug 2013
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More news follow @newsdailyplanet The unlikely origin of fish and chips Fish and chips are a national institution - and now chippies across the country are preparing to celebrate the 150th birthday of our most famous fast food. Winston Churchill called them "the good companions". John Lennon smothered his in tomato ketchup. Michael Jackson liked them with mushy peas. They sustained morale through two world wars and helped fuel Britain's industrial prime. NUMBER OF CHIPPIES Fish and chips 1910: c25,000 1929: c35,000 2009: c10,000 Sources: seafish.org and Fish and Chips and the British Working Class, by John Walton For generations, fish and chips have fed millions of memories - eaten with greasy fingers on a seaside holiday, a pay-day treat at the end of the working week or a late-night supper on the way home from the pub. Few can resist the mouth-watering combination - moist white fish in crisp golden batter, served with a generous portion of hot, fluffy chips. Everyone has their own preferences and tastes vary from one part of the country to another. Cod or haddock? Salt and vinegar? Pickled onion? Scraps? Like Morecambe and Wise or Wallace and Gromit, fish and chips are a classic double act - and yet they started life as solo performers. And their roots are not as British as you might think. The story of the humble chip goes back to the 17th Century to either Belgium or France, depending who you believe. Oddly enough, the chip may have been invented as a substitute for fish, rather than an accompaniment. When the rivers froze over and nothing could be caught, resourceful housewives began cutting potatoes into fishy shapes and frying them as an alternative. Around the same time, fried fish was introduced into Britain by Jewish refugees from Portugal and Spain. The fish was usually sold by street sellers from large trays hung round their necks. Charles Dickens refers to an early fish shop or "fried fish warehouse" in Oliver Twist (1839) where the fish generally came with bread or baked potatoes. North or south? Who first had the bright idea to marry fish with chips remains the subject of fierce controversy and we will probably never know for sure. It is safe to say it was somewhere in England but arguments rage over whether it was up north or down south. TAKEAWAYS SERVED ANNUALLY 1. Burgers 748m 2. Chinese/Indian food 569m 3. Chicken 333m 4. Pizza 249m 5. Fried fish 229m Source: NPD Crest market research, Oct 2009 Some credit a northern entrepreneur called John Lees. As early as 1863, it is believed he was selling fish and chips out of a wooden hut at Mossley market in industrial Lancashire. Others claim the first combined fish 'n' chip shop was actually opened by a Jewish immigrant, Joseph Malin, within the sound of Bow Bells in East London around 1860. However it came about, the marriage quickly caught on. At a time when working-class diets were bleak and unvaried, fish and chips were a tasty break from the norm. Outlets sprung up across the country and soon they were as much a part of Victorian England as steam trains and smog. Italian migrants passing through English towns and cities saw the growing queues and sensed a business opportunity, setting up shops in Scotland, Wales and Ireland.