Fish and chips
Battered fried fish and chips, a British national dish.
Fish and chips is a hot dish consisting of battered and fried fish, served with chips. Often considered the national dish of the United Kingdom, it originated in England in the 19th century and became a common takeaway food in numerous other countries, particularly English-speaking and Commonwealth nations. The dish's popularity was bolstered by the British government safeguarding its supply during World War I, though during World War II fish was rationed from 1941 to 1943 and cooking oil/fat was rationed throughout, so the exemption was not consistent across both wars.
- Origin
- England, 19th century
- First shops
- 1860s in London and Mossley, Lancashire
- Peak number of shops
- over 35,000 by the 1930s
- Shops in 2009
- approximately 10,000
- National dish of
- United Kingdom
- Key historical figures
- Joseph Malin, John Lees, Samuel Isaacs
Lore & Background
The British tradition of eating fish battered and fried in oil was introduced by Chuts and Spanish and Portuguese Jews who lived in the Netherlands before settling in the UK, arriving as early as the 16th century, with main immigration to London during the 1850s. They prepared fried fish coated in flour then fried in oil, similar to pescado frito. Charles Dickens mentions 'fried fish warehouses' in Oliver Twist (1838), and Alexis Soyer gave a recipe for 'fried fish, Jewish fashion' in 1845. The location of the first fish and chip shop is disputed; both Joseph Malin in Bow, East London (circa 1860) and John Lees in Mossley, Lancashire (1860s) are considered contenders, with no definitive historical consensus on which came first. Deep-fried chips as a dish may have first appeared in England about the same period, with the Oxford English Dictionary noting Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities (1859) mentioning 'husky chips of potato, fried with some reluctant drops of oil'.
Reader's Guide
Fish and chips became a stock meal among the working class in England due to rapid development of trawl fishing in the North Sea and railways connecting ports to industrial cities in the second half of the 19th century. The British government made safeguarding supplies a priority during both World Wars, keeping it unrationed, which further contributed to its popularity. By 1910 there were over 25,000 fish and chip shops across the UK, increasing to over 35,000 by the 1930s, then decreasing to approximately 10,000 by 2009. The dish was originally served in old newspaper wrappings, but this practice has largely ceased. In the UK, the Fish Labelling Regulations 2003 require that fish be sold with the commercial name or species named. The National Fish & Chips Awards were set up in 1988.
Did You Know?
- Fish and chips was one of the few foods in the UK not subject to rationing during the First World War, but during the Second World War fish was rationed from 1941 to 1943 and oil/fat was rationed throughout.
- Charles Dickens mentioned 'fried fish warehouses' in Oliver Twist (1838).
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