Fish & Chips Shops: Regional differences

[yorksrob]

used to love a spam fritter, chips and the spiciest curry sauce they had. That was only until I found out how healthy it was :roll:

Have it with mushy peas. At least you'll be getting one of your "five a day" !

 

[ATW Alex 101]

I see no one's mentioned breaded mushrooms or mushy peas/pea fritters, which are pretty much ubiquitous here on the south coast.

The greek chippies do Mushroom and chips, just 2 large fried mushrooms and chips.

Also the debates over cod versus mackerel? Most chip shops round here offer you the choice of several fish (including the dubious "rock", which is actually dogfish... so technically it's shark meat). If you went to one and just asked for "fish and chips" you'd be laughed at.

I'd never heard of rock until it was mentioned in an episode of London's Burning. I was told it was rock salmon which is conger eel. Rock is practically unheard of in the north-west!

 

[deltic1989]

Scallops check although they seem to be called potato fritters. Some chippys also do spam fritters.
One thing that did confuse me when I first moved to Nottingham was the fact I cant get a chip butty anywhere. I can get a chip cob but not a butty.
I do remember a good chippy back home in Lincoln that would deep fry virtually anything you gave them. We used to quite enjoy deep fried wagon wheels but they had to be jammie ones.

 

[Eagle]

Scallops check although they seem to be called potato fritters.

Some of the posher chip shops have actual scallops (the mollusc) :P

 

[SS4]

In the Northwest, you can get Potato Scallops, which are large slices of Potato in Batter, sometimes nice as an alternative to Chips.

Do you get these in other parts of the UK?

Yeah, they're simply called scallops here in Birmingham (and Wolverhampton too iirc).

Curry sauce is also popular and every chippy I've been in has their own version. Same goes for mushy peas (are they popular outside the West Midlands?), sausages and saveloys as the main sides along with battered sausage.

Not from the chippy but I can't let a thread about chips pass without touting the deliciousness of faggots, chips and mushy peas

 

[yorksrob]

Wasn't Italy once ruled by the House of Saveloy ?

 

[ScottishIain]

Tim, which chippy do you visit near Carlisle station? I believe there's two. One under the County Hotel, and one around the corner on The Crescent.
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They're called the same in Yorkshire, but in the East Midlands for example they're called "Potato Fritters".

Called fritters up here in Scotland too.

 

[BlythPower]

Three pages in and no-one's mentioned scraps?!?

They're sadly lacking in chippies in the Midlands. :cry:

 

[breadfan]

In Birkenhead, the chip shops do two types of gravy- the regular type and one with mushrooms and onions in.
Never seen that anywhere else.

 

[Ploughman]

On Chips

Mayonnaise is a must but not with Fish.

Tomato sauce and pepper in mushy peas.

 

[Zoidberg]

Three pages in and no-one's mentioned scraps?!?

They're sadly lacking in chippies in the Midlands. :cry:

I guess your "scraps" are the same as the "scramptions" I remember getting in the North East - the little bits of cooked batter resulting from drops as the fish is placed in the fat and the bits that come off as the fish is getting cooked.

Very nice

Don't see them around here (West Mids) nor where I frequent in Edinburgh.

 

[trentside]

You always seem to get "scraps" in chip shops around Lincoln, not sure about further afield. A local "delicacy" round here seems to be chips and cheese. Its never appealed to me personally - but each to their own.

 

[ScottishIain]

Being from near Glasgow, one of our local delicacy's is the deep fried Mars Bar. Not many places do it though.

 

[richw]

Three pages in and no-one's mentioned scraps?!?

They're sadly lacking in chippies in the Midlands. :cry:

In my chippy they're 40p, or free with a portion of chips. They had to stop them being free as kids were going in constantly just for a bag of scraps.
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Being from near Glasgow, one of our local delicacy's is the deep fried Mars Bar. Not many places do it though.

We have them in one of our chippies in Falmouth.

 

[anti-pacer]

Is haggis available south of Penrith/Sunderland?

 

[IanD]

My experience:

Up north (mainly Yorkshire) they know how to fry fish - they fry it until the fish is cooked, nice and firm flesh and not watery and the batter is crisp and crunchy. Preferably haddock with the skin off to stop it being too greasy.

Down south (Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes, Northampton, London, Brighton, Eastbourne) - they fry the fish skin on and only until the batter is just about cooked. Resulting in greasy fish with horrible watery flesh.

I rarely eat fish and chips now unless I'm back up north. Usually stick to the pies and battered sausages down here. If I have fish, I try to get haddock and ask them to cook it a bit longer - but that doesn't always go down too well ("You think I don't know how to cook fish??" - Er, yes otherwise I wouldn't have asked).

 

[IanXC]

Three pages in and no-one's mentioned scraps?!?

They're sadly lacking in chippies in the Midlands. :cry:

I'd not even thought about it! You almost have to decline scraps round here!

 

[Zoidberg]

My experience:

Up north (mainly Yorkshire) they know how to fry fish - they fry it until the fish is cooked, nice and firm flesh and not watery and the batter is crisp and crunchy. Preferably haddock with the skin off to stop it being too greasy.

Down south (Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes, Northampton, London, Brighton, Eastbourne) - they fry the fish skin on and only until the batter is just about cooked. Resulting in greasy fish with horrible watery flesh.

...

Aaaah, but if it's cooked right, the skin on haddock adds to the flavour

 

[bnm]

My two favourite menu items are getting harder to find here in Bristol. The battered beefburger and faggots in gravy.

When the urge for faggots, mushy peas and chips take hold I tend now to cook my own butcher's bought faggots in onion gravy. Whilst they're in the oven I'll pop down the chippy for the chips and mushy peas.

 

[Bill EWS]

Anti-Pacer. You get Haggis in most Supermarkets in the south but not the sausage shaped ones you get at the chip shop with batter as in Scotland. You get the larger round Haggis from the Supermarkets. However, saying that there may well be the odd chipper in the south who may do them. Just haven't seen them.

 

[Qwerty133]

You always seem to get "scraps" in chip shops around Lincoln, not sure about further afield. A local "delicacy" round here seems to be chips and cheese. Its never appealed to me personally - but each to their own.

Chese and chips is my regular order from the local chip shop, and is available in all decent chip shops (and most the rubish ones ) here in leicester!

 

[Class172]

One difference I've noticed between locations is the cooking oil. Where I live, and whenever I've been to the south west, it is always cooked in a vegetable oil and you are offered salt, vinegar and tomato ketchup, however when I've been to Yorkshire or Cumbria, the chips appear to be cooked in dripping, and you are offered salt and brown sauce. Cod is also the default fish in my area.

 

[IanD]

Aaaah, but if it's cooked right, the skin on haddock adds to the flavour

Can sometimes be too fishy for me but can also add a bit of extra crunch.

 

[Darandio]

I've noticed that a fish cake in the South of England is a small breadcrumb covered disk of fish pate, whereas a fish cake in the North of England is a large round hunk of potato and fish in batter.

Really, in the north you have seen that as a 'fish cake'?

From Tyne & Wear down to Yorkshire (at least!), what you mentioned in bold would be known as a 'Fish Pattie'. Normally two slices of potato, with cod offcuts on either side, covered in batter.

A 'Fish Cake' would just be minced whitefish in batter, much like what you see frozen in the supermarket.

 

[Class172]

They're sadly lacking in chippies in the Midlands. :cry:

There seems to be a few in Droitwich.

That makes me think, I wonder where has the highest person:chippy ratio. Droitwich has 4 chippies and a population of 25000, so there's one chippy for every 7500 people.
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Really, in the north you have seen that as a 'fish cake'?

From Tyne & Wear down to Yorkshire (at least!), what you mentioned in bold would be known as a 'Fish Pattie'. Normally two slices of potato, with cod offcuts on either side, covered in batter.

A 'Fish Cake' would just be minced whitefish in batter, much like what you see frozen in the supermarket.

When I ask for a fishcake (which is most of the time as I like them!), this is what I get:

 

[TOCDriver]

lack of chippies in the midlands is probably because of the ethnic diversity of the region. I don't often come across muslim or Pakistani fish and chip shops up North, I must admit.

 

[Darandio]

When I ask for a fishcake (which is most of the time as I like them!), this is what I get:

Yes, the minced whitefish.

I've honestly never seen a fish pattie referred to as a fishcake anywhere in the North East and as a former delivery driver, it was one of the job requirements to know where all the good chippies were!

 

[yorkie]

I'd not even thought about it! You almost have to decline scraps round here!

Indeed, I always get asked if I want scraps! I always decline; there's enough batter with the fish as it is!
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Is haggis available south of Penrith/Sunderland?

It's available on the Sleeper if that counts

 

[yorksrob]

Really, in the north you have seen that as a 'fish cake'?

From Tyne & Wear down to Yorkshire (at least!), what you mentioned in bold would be known as a 'Fish Pattie'. Normally two slices of potato, with cod offcuts on either side, covered in batter.

A 'Fish Cake' would just be minced whitefish in batter, much like what you see frozen in the supermarket.

Yes really. Never heard it called (or seen it written on the wall for that matter) as a fish pattie. Always a fishcake.

 

[theblackwatch]

This thread has appeared at a time when I am mourning the loss of my local chippy. We've always had at least one, and at some periods there have been two. I was a bit surprised the other week when I found the fish & chip shop was 'closed for refit' as it had only been done out a year or two ago. Sadly, in the past week, I discovered why - the sign outside now proclaims it is a 'Pizza Hut Delivery' fast food place.

Moving back more to the topic, does anyone else here have "one of each" - I think its a Yorkshire thing, one of each being one fish and one portion of chips. Also, I don't think everyone has "scraps" - I'm sure I've heard someone refer to them as "bits".

Finally, it seems there are some areas of the country where they can't be bothered to remove the skin from the fish! No skin around here, but 'down south' and they seem to leave it on.