150 years of Fish & Chips

A poem by John, Andrea and Shannon

FISH AND CHIPS - A HISTORY

There a nothing more British than fish and chips eaten with salt and vinegar, fish and chips is one of our Great British institutions

Humble Beginnings

Hut where did this famous culinary delight originate?

The simple answer is that no-one really knows.

We do know that fish and chips developed separately- the French invented chips or 'chipped pommes de terre a la mode' (from the humble potato commonly believed to have been brought to Europe by Sir Walter Raleigh in the 17th Century) and in 1839 Charles Dickens referred to a 'fried fish warehouse' in Oliver Twist. The great British fish and chip trade grew out of these existing small businesses which sold fish and chips separately in the streets and alleys of London and some of Britain's industrial town, in the

1850s.

Both, Lancashire and London stake a claim to the origin of our most famous meal - chips were the standard fare of the industrial north whilst fried fish was introduced in London's East End.

Long Live the Fish and Chip Shop

Along with the history of fish and clrips comes the colourful history of the fish and chip shop. The first fish and chip shop in the North of England is thought to have opened in Mosley near Oldham, Lancashire, around 1863, Mr Lees sold fish and chips from a wooden hut in the market and later he transferred the business to a permanent shop across the road which had the following inscription in the window "This is the first fish and chip shop in the world." But in London, Joseph Malin opened a fish end chip shop in Cleveland Street within the sound of Bow Bells 13 in 1860. There are now around 8,100 fish and chip shops across the UK that, eight for every one McDonald's outlet.

A Marriage of Taste

The public soon realised that fish and potatoes ware rather a tasty combination and over the course of the next 100 years, fish and chips became not only a national institution but a vital source of nutrition for families - helping to fuel the workforce of the industrial revolution.

Fish and Chip Shops Come Out Tops

Fish and chips became so essential to the diet of the ordinary man and woman that one shop in Bradford had to employ a doorman to control the queue at busy times during 1931

FISHY FACTS

Lancastrians claim the first chip shop - John Lees in Mossley, near Oldham in 1863.

Cockneys beg to differ, pointing to Joseph Malin's shop set up in Cleveland Street in London's East End in 1860.

In 1838 Charles Dickens wrote about fried fish warehouses in Oliver Twist. The warehouses were forerunners to the fish and chip shop.

In Dickensian Britain, fish weren't served with chips but bread or baked potatoes.

They were sold cold by street vendors at a penny a portion from trays hung around the vendors' necks.

The Territorial Army prepared for battle on fish and chips provided in special catering tents erected at training camps in the 1930s. Its importance meant it was the only takeaway food not rationed during the Second World War.

Frederick Lord Woolton, wartime food minister, allowed mobile flying vans to cater for evacuees.

The British National Federation of Fish Friers was founded in 1913.

The country's finest chippies have competed for the Fish and Chip Shop of the Year competition since 1996.

It would take an area the size of 56,000 Wembley Stadium football pitches to grow all the potatoes needed for the chips consumed annually in the UK.

The largest fish and chip shop in the world is reputedly Harry Ramsden's in Guiseley, Leeds.

To mark its 2lst birthday in 1952, the Harry Ramsden chain served fish and chips at the original prices, selling a world record 10,000 portions in a single day. It has broken this one day record three times - 10,182 portions in Guiseley (1988), 11,964 in Glasgow (1992) and 12,105 in Melbourne (1996).

Mabbutt of Manchester began in 1880 with a single employee building fish frying ranges. By 1910, it employed 150 people building and repairing frying machines.

By 19l3 Acme Engineering in Leeds was dedicated solely to building and selling fish frying ranges for fish and chip shops.

Fish and chips came top of two surveys as a national icon, beating the Queen, Princess Diana and the Beatles.

Scooby Snax win London & South East England region and make it to the Fish & Chip Shop of The Year Finals for the second year running in 2009