History Behind Fish & Chips

No one knows precisely where or when fish and chips came together. Chips (pommes frites) had arrived in Britain from France in the eighteenth century.


The first mention in 1854 was when a leading chef included ‘thin cut potatoes cooked in oil’ in his recipe book, Shilling Cookery. Around this time fish warehouses sold fried fish and bread, with mention of them in Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist published in 1830.

There are claims to the first ‘chippie’ (fish and chip shop) from Lancashire in the North and London in the South of England. Whoever it may have been, the trade grew to feed a rapidly expanding population, reaching a staggering 35,000 shops in the 1930’s, leveling to around 11,000 now. The Federation of Fish Friers in the UK claim that in 1995 the British consumed 300 million servings of fish and chips equating to six servings for every man woman and child in the country. The record for the largest number of portions sold in one day by an independent fish and chip shop is over 4,000.

Fish and chips helped feed the masses during the First World War and were one of only a few foods not rationed in the Second.


Which Fish?
The UK’s favorite fish is still Cod and accounts for 61.5% of total consumption.

Which Potato?
A floury potato is best, waxy potatoes can often result in greasy chips. The best varieties are King Edward , Maris Piper and Sante. 1 out of every 4 British potatoes become chips - that's around 1.25 million tonnes every year.

What Fat?
The perfect and traditional fat for frying both the fish and the chips is beef dripping or lard. Both give a crisper and tastier chip and fish batter. Cooking fish and chips in vegetable or corn oil is now commonplace – good for vegetarians. The oil must be clean and a constant temperature of 185°C maintained.

Thick or Thin?
Thick chips absorb less oil than thin ones, so chunkier chips are healthier.

To Serve?
Very few Britons have adopted the continental habit of mayonnaise with fish and chips, preferring just salt and vinegar sprinkled on.

Are they healthy?Compared to other take-away foods Fish and chips have: 9.42 grams of fat per 100 grams. The average pizza has 11, Big Mac meal with medium fries has 12.1, Whopper meal with medium fries has 14.5, chicken korma 15.5 and doner kebab 16.2.

Fish and chips have 595 calories in the average portion - an average pizza has 871, Big Mac meal with medium fries has 888, Whopper meal with medium fries has 892, chicken korma 910 and doner kebab 924.