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Fish and Chips are famous in many parts of the Western world.  A hungry person can find some pub or chip shop where perfectly battered and fried white fish fillets rest on a bed of absorbent papers (to soak up the extra oil they were fried in) next to a golden pile of fried poptatoes, known in Britain as “chips,” and in the US as “fries.” So, where did this scrumptious culinary delight originate?  No one really knows for sure.  

What we do know is that fish and chips were not developed at the same time. The French invented chips.  As mentioned above, people in the United States refer to chips as “fries,” and, more properly, “French fries,” for that very reason.  In his 1839 novel Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens referred to one “fried fish warehouse,” which might indicate that the first shops to serve both the batter fried fish and the chips together might have gotten its start in and around London, England.

Fish and chips in England were sold in alleyways and on the streets to begin with, in much the same way as hot dogs are served from food carts in the US.  The British towns of Lancashire and London each have good reasons to claim authorship of this delicious fried street food. Chips were affordable and widely sold throughout the  industrial north, and the trademark fried fish seemed a natural pairing with the fried potatoes once they also caught on. Who doesn’t love some of the hottest hot sauce on freshly fried fish?
Regardless of where the dish was first encountered, fish and chips is a national favorite in both Britain and the US, and has been treasured and enjoyed by people of all ages.  It is commonly served with malt vinegar or tartar sauce, sometimes with cole slaw on the side, though that is mostly an American innovation, as are hush puppies.

The next time you are enjoying a plate of fish and chips, you can share the history you’ve just learned with your friends.