Image © Getty Images
Is that the credit crunch of a perfectly fried chip? Rather than being condemned to culinary death for its cholesterol content, it seems fish and chips is a meal ideally suited to our suddenly cash-conscious times.
The British consume some 276 million steaming fish-and-chip suppers, from around 10,500 chippies, every year. And rising: the nation’s favourite takeaway is becoming even more popular, according to the industry authority Seafish, as part of a wider increase in the consumption of economical fast food.
But the British were once even bigger fish and chip fans. The dish took off at the beginning of Queen Victoria’s reign – in the mid-19th century – possibly in the form of fried leftovers from London's Billingsgate fish market. By the 1920s, Britain must have been reeking from the output of a staggering 35,000 frying establishments.
The organisers of the Fish and Chip Shop of the Year competition, whose 2009 winner has been announced, would no doubt like to see a return to those glory days. With new frying technology, this most British of dishes is potentially much healthier now. Fished from sustainable sources, it is also less ruinous for the environment.
Healthiness and sustainability – along with simply superlative taste – were two of the criteria the chippie judges used to draw up a shortlist of shops and decide upon the winner; a customer vote and hygiene inspections also informed their decision.
Take the tour of the nation's 10 best fish and chip shops, including Britain's newly judged supreme fryer.
