Fish & chip shop
Fish and chips in a polystyrene take-away container
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| Alternative names | Fish supper / Fish ‘n’ Chips |
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| Course | Main dish |
| Place of origin | England |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | Battered and fried fish with deep-fried chips |
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Fish and chips is a hot dish of English origin consisting of fried battered fish and hot potato chips. It is a common take-away food and an early example of culinary fusion. Fish and chips first appeared in the 1860s; by 1910 there were more than 25,000 fish and chip shops across the UK, and by the 1930s there were over 35,000. Fish and chips are now a staple takeaway meal in numerous countries, particularly in English-speaking commonwealth countries including Australia and New Zealand.
Fried fish as a culinary trend may have begun in Lancashire or it may have come from London's Western Sephardic Jews. Originally, Western Sephardic Jews settling in England in the 17th century would have prepared fried fish in a manner similar to Pescado frito, which is coated in a flour. Battered fish is first coated in flour then dipped into a batter consisting of flour mixed with liquid, usually water but sometimes beer. Some newer modifications to the recipe may have cornflour added, and instead of beer sometimes soda water is added. In 1860, the first fish and chip shop was opened in London by Joseph Malin who sold "fish fried in the Jewish fashion".
Fish and chips became a stock meal among the working classes in England as a consequence of the rapid development of trawl fishing in the North Sea, and the development of railways which connected the ports to major industrial cities during the second half of the 19th century, so that fresh fish could be rapidly transported to the heavily populated areas.
Deep-fried chips (slices or pieces of potato) as a dish may have first appeared in England in about the same period: the Oxford English Dictionary notes as its earliest usage of "chips" in this sense the mention in Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities (1859): "Husky chips of potatoes, fried with some reluctant drops of oil".
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