Our favourite Friday night feast: Do fish and chip suppers need a shake-up?
There are suggestions that the great British dish of fish and chips came from our poor relations across the border. Yes, I’m talking about Greater Manchester, or Lancashire, or whatever they want to call themselves.
Poor poor them. They find a dish they can call their own and then we come along (Yorkshire) and take their cod, chuck it in the bin and replace it with haddock – a much nicer fish isn’t it? – and we then find a way of making it taste much better by frying it in super healthy beef dripping, and once we’ve done all that we become renowned for the quality of our fish and chips. Got to love Yorkshire for being culinary capital of the UK.
So, where’s good for fish and chips in Yorkshire? To be honest the list is endless but one place that I did visit recently was Thompsons Restaurant on the side of the A64, just outside York.
Incredibly fresh fish, super tasting chips and great peas – simply a great example of fantastic Yorkshire fish and chips. The restaurant has great parking facilities and has a friendly and welcoming feel.
I have a little gripe about Thompsons, and in fact just about every chippy restaurant up and down the country, and that is that nothing seems to set them apart from each other.
Now it might just be me and I may be talking rubbish here, but If I owned a chippy I’d be thinking: ‘lets turn this old established industry on its head a little and create a stir’.
Sweet potato fries, lime and chilli batter, pancetta pea puree, something that appeals to a whole new market. I’d make my own tartar sauce, my own tomato sauce and I’d even have a go at HP sauce too.
I’d make chats (deep fried halved new potatoes) just like my granddad used to – who remembers them? And scallops (sliced round potatoes dipped in batter) would make a return and be rejuvenated. I’d re-establish an industry that, to be honest, fades year after year.
We’re at real risk of loosing a national dish, one that we should be proud of. Please somebody open somewhere that makes us Brits sit up and listen! I’d love to hear your thoughts!
