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| Plaice and chips (plaice rolled in flour prior to frying) with "lashings of peas" |
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| 'Rock eel' ( in batter) and chips |
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| Plaice are flat fish with orange spots The brighter orange the spots, the fresher the fish |
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| The Dog fish. This fish, a member of the shark family, is marketed as 'Rock Eel', Rock Salmon, and Huss. This fish is completely unrelated to the Mud-shark. |
Last night, Toot cooked fish and chips. So I came in from the Cabine, put my feet under the table and tucked into a "slap-up fish and chip supper" (The Beano Comic). Absolutely delicious!
When I was a baby and a toddler, I lived with my Mum and Dad, Edna and Joe, in a flat over my Grand-dad's fish and chip shop in Bower Lane, Maidstone, Kent. So you could say "vinegar" runs in my veins.
I haven't eaten meat of any description for over twenty-five years but Toot and I do enjoy eating the many "denizens of the deep" (Jacques Cousteau and Frank Zappa) that frequent the waters around our shores. Now, there are many ways of cooking fish and it is extremely easy to overcook, so to enjoy fish at its best requires attention to detail.
Some people say "I just cant bring myself to eat fish because of the smell". Well, fresh fish doesn't smell, other than of the sea, and you should only cook fresh fish.
Some say "I don't know how to cook fish". Well its not difficult as fish requires little time or chef skills to deliver a tasty nutritious meal. Whether you are frying fillets of fish in batter or after just rolling them in seasoned flour, the trick is to use the best oil for the job 'Ground-nut oil' (Peanut oil). Sun flower oil does not get hot enough and corn oil imparts a taste. Ground-nut oil is the most expensive but also the best, beware poor quality substitutes!
The Batter: If you like your fish cooked in batter then a good general mixture of plain flour, a little corn flour, water and a dash of vinegar or lemon juice works well. Some folks like the additional flavour and colour of batter when beer is added to plain flour. If you want your batter to cover and stick to your fish then roll it in dry flour before you dip it in the batter. Personally, I like batter on fillets of fish like; cod, haddock and rock eel but I like flat fish fillets of plaice and dabs just rolled in flour and fried.
One really important tip for frying rock eel: this fish has only one cartilaginous bone, its backbone, that runs the length of its body. Do not try to fry this fish in cutlets with the back bone at its centre. If you do this, the flesh around the bone will not cook through. Best to run a knife along the fish exposing or removing the backbone and creating a flat fillet which will cook evenly in the fryer.
There are many ways to cook a chip, some will say it is essential to fry the chip twice, once in cool oil and then finally again in hot oil, personally I am happy with chips cooked once in hot oil. For me the secret of a good chip is the use of ground-nut oil and an appropriate variety of potato such as King Edward or the red Desiree.
Cooked chips need lots of sea salt crystals and black pepper! I also like a variety of sauces and condiments on chips. I first encountered recreational drugs, and mayonnaise on chips, in Amsterdam in 1968. Nowadays, mayonnaise on chips is common place, but in the UK of the 1960's and 70's, it was considered 'exotic'.
Some say 'Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding' is the dish that defines 'English Cuisine' but I believe its fried fish and chips. We have given 'fish and chips' to the world and every country we've visited has its own version. I remember with delight the wonderful fish and chips we ate in New Zealand, fried fillets of Red Snapper and John Dory taking the place of the British Chip shop's Cod and Haddock. We enjoyed great fish and chips on Cape Cod (no pun intended) and excellent fried seafood at an indoor market in Toronto,
An incidental delight of fish and chips is the 'Chip Buttie'. This simple but high-carb treat just requires a fresh baked soft white bread roll (Bap) or two slices of white bread, lots of salted butter and a handful of chips, then do what comes naturally!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_and_chips
http://www.beano.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cousteau
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Zappa
Fish and chips have even inspired poetry:
'Vinegar' by Roger McGough 1990
Sometimes
I feel like a priest
In a fish and chip queue
quietly thinking
as the vinegar runs through
how nice it would be
to buy a supper for two.
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