Fish and Chips – we tried typically English street food in Brighton!

Who travels to the UK is going to notice it: “THE” typical street food is Fish and Chips. Be assured that we had it on our list, too and on our day trip to Brighton we picked one of these greasy sins up at the pier.

Fish ’n’ Chips is a fish and potato dish. Traditionally, it is made with codfish, but also haddock and pollack are often used. The fish is deep fried in batter made with beer or ale, cut in stripes and then served with chips. The chips are potatoes cut into stripes, washed and then deep fried. They get a lightly browned, crispy outside and are seasoned with salt. In different regions of the country the chips are served with different sauces like vinegar, brown sauce or suet.

Also sides differ between regions and you can have anything from mushy peas or pickled onions to baked beans with your Fish ‘n’ Chips.

It is rare that this meal is prepared at home, it is a classic take away. However, today it can also be found on the menus of Pubs and even fancy restaurants. But honestly, I think, it is far more authentic to eat it off a paper plate with your fingers. We had Fish and Chips for the first time in Brighton near the Pier. We shared one portion between us as a snack. That was quite enough for us. The fish was really tasty and also the chips, a little unusual with the vinegar to me at first, were very good.

Our second Fish ‘n’ Chips experience was in Salisbury. We found a takeaway place in a pedestrian area that specialised in Fish ‘n’ Chips. They offered three different serving sizes. We didn’t have anything to eat that day and they told us that the small portion wasn’t going to be enough so we both ordered the medium size. Oh, what a mistake! A huge paper bowl was filled with chips. And then – maybe because we looked like we were starving – some more were piled on. A big piece of fish was then balanced on top of the mountain of chips. We bravely tucked in and it was really good. But we didn’t even manage half of the portion. But we will definitely do it again!