Chip Shop discussion

[Mcr Warrior]

They will also dip and drop suitable foods if you take them along yourself

Sounds good. Have always fancied trying "chip shop" style (i.e. battered/fried) smoked mackerel.

 

[scotrail158713]

Vinegar!

You raise an interesting point which I remember briefly being discussed on Off the Ball on BBC Radio Scotland a few years ago. Vinegar is much preferred in the west of Scotland whilst the east prefers chippy sauce, so where is the dividing "line" that this changes? Your location says you are in Lanark, so it may be this "line" lies further east.

Ketchup

I don't dislike ketchup but for some reason I just can't take to it on fish & chips. Whereas whilst vinegar wouldn't be my first choice, I'd still take it.

 

[GusB]

Since this is a chip shop discussion I'll ask it - what is the preferred condiment to go with fish & chips? It's got to be the eastern Scotland speciality "chippy sauce" if you ask me - there's nothing better.

Blergh!

When I asked for vinegar instead of chippy sauce, I was looked upon as if I had emerged from a radioactive swamp!

 

[ABB125]

You raise an interesting point which I remember briefly being discussed on Off the Ball on BBC Radio Scotland a few years ago. Vinegar is much preferred in the west of Scotland whilst the east prefers chippy sauce, so where is the dividing line that this changes? Your location says you are in Lanark, so it may be this "line" lies further east.

I don't dislike ketchup but for some reason I just can't take to it on fish & chips. Whereas whilst vinegar wouldn't be my first choice, I'd still take it.

Any particular vinegar preferences? Spirit, malt, white wine, balsamic?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Last night's "Food Unwrapped Does Great Britain" on Channel 4 (at 8 p.m.) featured something which is apparently used in certain chippies called "non brewed condiment". WTF?!

 

[GusB]

Any particular vinegar preferences? Spirit, malt, white wine, balsamic?

Is your local chippy one that has three Michelin stars?

 

[ABB125]

Is your local chippy one that has three Michelin stars?

Pah! I'd be surprised if you could find any Michelin stars within 5 miles of Selly Oak!

PS: I generally don't have vinegar on chips. I prefer ketchup (as previously mentioned), though I suppose a good proportion of ketchup is vinegar...

 

[Busaholic]

Since this is a chip shop discussion I'll ask it - what is the preferred condiment to go with fish & chips? It's got to be the eastern Scotland speciality "chippy sauce" if you ask me - there's nothing better.

The Belgians have got it right (well, they had to once in a lifetime ). Mayonnaise is the only acceptable wet accompaniment to chips. Stokes Mayonnaise is the best, especially for patriotic cricket lovers. They even do a version with garlic.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I generally don't have vinegar on chips. I prefer ketchup (as previously mentioned), though I suppose a good proportion of ketchup is vinegar...

Usually distilled vinegar is the second listed ingredient (i.e. by amount used in descending order) in tomato ketchup, this after tomato concentrate.

 

[Ediswan]

Last night's "Food Unwrapped Does Great Britain" on Channel 4 (at 8 p.m.) featured something which is apparently used in certain chippies called "non brewed condiment". WTF?!

Acetic acid plus flavourings and colour. Cheaper than brewed malt vinegar.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-brewed_condiment

My local chippy offers 'onion vinegar', the liquid the pickled onions came in.

 

[Statto]

I see that Edinburgh chippy sauce, is Gold Star Brown Sauce, but chippy's water it down a bit, so it's not too thick & not too runny, quite amusing that the factory that makes the Edinburgh chippy sauce is actually in Glasgow.

Down my way in Merseyside we have a couple that are well recommended, one called the Crispy Cod, Moreton Cross, the other The Green Hut down the shore, both cook fish to order, now & again i'll have fish & chips with mushy peas, & fruity curry.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Has anyone mentioned battered chips yet? A Midland thing I believe but I know of at least two shops in Devon that sell them and also saveloys.

 

[McRhu]

You raise an interesting point which I remember briefly being discussed on Off the Ball on BBC Radio Scotland a few years ago. Vinegar is much preferred in the west of Scotland whilst the east prefers chippy sauce, so where is the dividing "line" that this changes? Your location says you are in Lanark, so it may be this "line" lies further east.

I don't dislike ketchup but for some reason I just can't take to it on fish & chips. Whereas whilst vinegar wouldn't be my first choice, I'd still take it.

I think the vinegar/chippy sauce frontier runs through Livingston, up through Falkirk and then turns right and veers off into the North Sea at Monifeith. I suspect that the border towns from Galashiels, Melrose, Hawick, etc are also firmly in the vinegar camp.

And for further effect the chips (and the fish of course) should be wrapped in yesterday's newspaper. In my case it was usually The Evening Times or The Daily Record. A bonus was getting the page with the cartoons on it.

 

[Starmill]

Acetic acid plus flavourings and colour. Cheaper than brewed malt vinegar.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-brewed_condiment

My local chippy offers 'onion vinegar', the liquid the pickled onions came in.

A cheaper substitute for fabric softener too!

 

[D821]

Tom Scott has a good video on vinegar substitute:

 

[GusB]

Last night's "Food Unwrapped Does Great Britain" on Channel 4 (at 8 p.m.) featured something which is apparently used in certain chippies called "non brewed condiment". WTF?!

It's good for streak-free windows

 

[Mcr Warrior]

It's good for streak-free windows

Someone I know who is a window cleaner by trade reckons that Fairy Liquid is best for streak-free windows, rather than white vinegar or similar or, indeed, other proprietary window cleaning products.

Having said that, I think, on balance, that I'd rather have non-brewed condiment on my chips than Fairy Liquid!

 

[Purple Orange]

Reading this thread at 12:40am was a huge mistake - I now have a massive craving for proper cod & chips with mushy peas.

 

[baz962]

My local chippy does an awesome curry sauce.

 

[TheBigD]

We have a once-a-week visiting fish and chip van on a Friday night. Brilliant quality, huge portion of fish and chips recently gone up in price from £5 to £5.50.

£5.50 is seriously cheap. Cod and chips at my local chippie is £10.50.

 

[kermit]

£5.50 is seriously cheap. Cod and chips at my local chippie is £10.50.

I wonder which will induce my heart attack more quickly; deep fried haggis, black pudding and chips with my own special gravy (and maybe some tinned mushy peas) every Friday night, or encountering real world prices on my occasional forays to the Big City!

 

[TheBigD]

I wonder which will induce my heart attack more quickly; deep fried haggis, black pudding and chips with my own special gravy (and maybe some tinned mushy peas) every Friday night, or encountering real world prices on my occasional forays to the Big City!

I'm in a small rural town in South Lincolnshire. Escaped from the city last month. When I lived in the city, the local chippie was sh!t. More batter than fish though the price was a couple of quid cheaper.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

When you're having fish & chips in Yorkshire, vinegar is the only condiment you need. The missus has weaned me off salt.

When you're having steak pudding, chips and mushy peas in Lancashire or Manchester, you must have both vinegar and gravy.

A poster on the other thread said most chips shops in Liverpool are run by the Chinese and serve both English & Chinese meals, which is true. However that is also the case in Manchester, Lancashire & Cheshire, but most do Holland's steak puddings. I have also come across Pukka steak puddings in Stoke which are just as good.

 

[Bletchleyite]

A poster on the other thread said must chips shops in Liverpool are run by the Chinese and serve both English & Chinese means, which is true. However that is also the case in Manchester, Lancashire & Cheshire, but most do Holland's steak puddings. I have also come across Pukka steak puddings in Stoke which are just as good.

I wonder where the north-south split on chippies/Chinese being the same thing and not being the same thing is? There definitely is one. Is it like that in the Midlands too, just not in the SE?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

When you're having fish & chips in Yorkshire, vinegar is the only condiment you need. The missus has weaned me off salt.

When your having steak pudding, chips and mushy peas in Lancashire or Manchester, you must have both vinegar and gravy.

A poster on the other thread said must chips shops in Liverpool are run by the Chinese and serve both English & Chinese means, which is true. However that is also the case in Manchester, Lancashire & Cheshire, but most do Holland's steak puddings. I have also come across Pukka steak puddings in Stoke which are just as good.

If you're in Sheffield or the former mining areas between Barnsley and Huddersfield, Henderson's Relish is a common alternative to vinegar.

When it comes to regional variations though, these are broad strokes. You can find as much variety between two chippies in the same town as you can between one in Huddersfield and one in Oldham.

 

[Bletchleyite]

If you're in Sheffield or the former mining areas between Barnsley and Huddersfield, Henderson's Relish is a common alternative to vinegar.

When it comes to regional variations though, these are broad strokes. You can find as much variety between two chippies in the same town as you can between one in Huddersfield and one in Oldham.

One that I find isn't true is the rumours you can't get mushy peas in Southern chippies. A few might not, but you mostly can.

 

[gg1]

You can't beat Black Country orange chips, the colour is a result of them being fried with a slightly savoury batter.

Even in the Black Country they're not that common any more, annoyingly the otherwise rather good chippie in the Black Country Museum doesn't do them.

Since this is a chip shop discussion I'll ask it - what is the preferred condiment to go with fish & chips? It's got to be the eastern Scotland speciality "chippy sauce" if you ask me - there's nothing better.

I first became aware of that a couple of years ago, sounds interesting but have never tried it, definitely will next time I'm in that part of Scotland.

Until then I'm sticking with salt, vinegar, tomato sauce (I suppose you can call it ketchup if you must insist on sounding posh ) and when I get the urge, curry sauce.

Gravy or mayonnaise both qualify as chip abuse.

 

[D6968]

You can't beat Black Country orange chips, the colour is a result of them being fried with a slightly savoury batter.

Even in the Black Country they're not that common any more, annoyingly the otherwise rather good chippie in the Black Country Museum doesn't do them.


I first became aware of that a couple of years ago, sounds interesting but have never tried it, definitely will next time I'm in that part of Scotland.

Until then I'm sticking with salt, vinegar, tomato sauce (I suppose you can call it ketchup if you must insist on sounding posh ) and when I get the urge, curry sauce.

Gravy or mayonnaise both qualify as chip abuse.

Sophie’s in Dudley just up the road in from the Black Country Museum used to do really nice battered chips, don’t know if it’s still going though, last I saw a car had gone through the front of her shop.

 

[Dai Corner]

One that I find isn't true is the rumours you can't get mushy peas in Southern chippies. A few might not, but you mostly can.

You can certainly get them in my regular chippy in Newport, south Wales. £6.90 for cod & chips, by the way. Free mushy peas, curry sauce or various other condiments on Fridays. I don't do salt or vinegar.

 

[Bantamzen]

I'm really lucky where I am, there is an amazing local chippie that cooks in the traditional way but thanks to covid restrictions set up a delivery service. The meals turn up on the back of a scooter within minutes of your requested order time absolutely perfect. Oh and the curry sauce is top notch, especially with liberal amounts of salt and vinegar