Thank cod for fish and chips!

Fish is an essential part of our diet, a good source of protein and an excellent alternative to meat.

Plenty of delicious recipes to enrich the table are available everywhere, but here in the UK, the classic national fish dish remains fish and chips. Considered mainly a takeaway food, easy and simple, it represents the quintessential of Great Britain; it is a fresh muscular chunk of cod or haddock, magnificently fried in such a way that the lingering unmistakable smell sticks with you for at least a couple of days afterwards!

I read that during the Second World War fish and chips remained regularly available and were amongst the few foods never rationed. Keeping its people well fed and happy was a first concern for the government. So we could say that fish and chips played a big role in winning the war! My grandma used to say – essential – in life is to eat well.

The debate over who introduced this uncomplicated dish is still open, but one certainty is that the Italians have contributed to the success and popularity of it. From the late 19th century a large number of Italian immigrants became involved in the fish and chip trade : sensing a business opportunity and chipping in their local knowledge!… apparently many of them were emigrants from the Veneto region of northern Italy who, missing their traditional dish, the ultimate Venetian street food, “scartosso de pesse frito” (a sizzling wrap of freshly fried fish and seafood) contributed actively to the spread and development of its local equivalent!

The recipe is basic. Grab your apron and get inspired to cook the super-delicious golden beer-battered fresh cod and crispy chips. You can even enjoy your cod with a clear conscience: North sea cod stocks have now reached their highest level for 35 years, a recovery that renders cod ‘sustainable’ once again.
“You can’t go wrong with fish and chips”.