myguideBritain Blog

Fish and Chips for the next President

November 26th, 2007

“There are few things more personal than eating, and if you reject someone’s food, you kind of reject them.”
so said Walter Scheib, former White House chef last week, on the diet of candidates on the campaign trail. (”Quote of the Day” in the New York Times on Friday 23^rd November).

I’m not 100% sure what he’s trying to say about the presidential candidates but it reminded me a little of how I’d felt after hearing a comment from a French hotelier in a London travel conference a few weeks back. He was most insulting towards our national dish of fish and chips wrapped in newspaper and our habit of eating it with our fingers. This was from a guy who’d quite happily serve his guests snails, frog’s legs and who knows what other animal parts! Sacre Bleu!

There are over 11,000 fish and chip shops here in Britain selling an average of 250 million portions of fish and chips a year. We have many great traditions, but that of a fish supper on a Friday night is by far the most delicious! A good piece of fish, preferably cod, in crispy batter with golden crisp chips - it’s a meal to rival any dish in the world.

I like to eat my piping hot cod and chips, liberally doused with salt and vinegar, from the paper (that actually used to be newspaper in the old days before food hygiene laws changed all that). With the fish perched on top of the chips and using a wooden fork to eat, in preference to fingers, I’ll walk home happy on a Friday evening after a pint at my local pub.

To find a good chippie a good rule of thumb is to follow the locals . In any locality the chippy with the longest queue is generally the best.

In London look for the” Rock and Sole Plaice” (great name) in Endell St near the Opera House in Covent Garden, one of London’s oldest, serving since 1871. Another, recommended by London cabbies is the “Fryers Delight” in Theobald’s Road, Holborn. Great crispy portions deep fried in beef dripping. Wash it down with a large mug of tea. This perfect combination of protein and carbs, however, is not low cal. so take care waistline watchers!

When you return to the US, Long John Silver’s will never taste the same again.

And what of Hilary, Barack and the other presidential candidates? If they followed a fish and chip diet on the campaign trail then I can assure you they’d have the energy to go all the way to the White House.

Entry Filed under: All of Britain, England