FISH & CHIPS

En España, y en la mayor parte del mundo, cuando nos referimos a establecimientos de “comida rápida” estamos pensando generalmente en hamburgueserías o pizzerías.

Sin embargo, si viajamos al Reino Unido, donde se originó, Australia o Nueva Zelanda, veremos un gran número de establecimientos denominados Fish & Chips, donde por un precio asequible te servirán unos trozos de pescado, habitualmente bacalao aunque también puede ser lenguado, merluza, abadejo, platija y también dorada, rebozado en harina y huevo y después frito y acompañado de dedos de patatas fritas y que ha liderado desde hace décadas el mercado de comida rápida en estos países. También podemos verlos aunque en menor medida en países como Irlanda, Canadá, Sudáfrica o Estados Unidos.

Aunque el pescado frito y las patatas fritas han aparecido por separado en diferentes platos durante muchos años, no está claro cuándo y dónde exactamente se combinaron ambos fritos hasta llegar a ser lo que conocemos hoy en día. Se sabe no obstante que un tal Joseph Malin abrió un establecimiento fish and chips shop en Londres en 1860, y que Charles Dickens menciona en su novela Oliver Twist, publicada en 1838, un establecimiento para freír pescado (fried fish warehouse).

FISH AND CHIPS

When ‘fast food’ is mentioned in Spain or other countries we immediately related it to hamburgers or pizza.

If you go to UK you will see lots of restaurants called ‘Fish and Chips’ the English National Dish.

Chips arrived in Britain from France in the 18th century and it is in UK when they began being served together with fish. This dish helped feed the soldiers during the First World War-although it was first mentioned in Charles Dickens’s novel Oliver Twist published in 1830.

Later, in 1854, an important chef included ‘thin cut potatoes cooked in oil’ in his recipe book, Shilling Cookery. Nobody knows precisely where or when fish and chips came together, but it is said that a man, called Joseph Malin, opened the first ‘fish and chips’ shop.

Now this traditional British food can be eaten even in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa or United States-There are even four important restaurants in New York.

About the ingredients, the potatoes should be floury otherwise chips can result greasy when cooked. The fish, the favorite is still cod but it can be sole, hake, haddock, pollack, cut into pieces, coated in flour and egg and fried. Fish and Chips were traditionally whapped in grease proof paper and newspaper. Anyway, it is said that fish and chips eaten from newspaper outdoors is the only and best way to eat them.

One is four of all the potatoes consumed in Britain is served up as chips and more than 277 million portions of chips are sold in fish and chips shops each year.
There are 11,000 fish and chips shops and lots of restaurants throughout the UK and Ireland called ‘Fish and Chips’ where you will served at an affordable price.