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Fish and chips

Fish and chips is deep-fried fish in batter and deep-fried potatoes, a
popular take-away food originally from the United Kingdom, but also popular
in the United States and elsewhere.

The fried potatoes are called chips in British usage; while American English
calls them french fries, the combination is nonetheless called fish and
chips even in the US. (Potato chips, an American innovation, are an entirely
different food, known as crisps in the UK.)

Eating deep-fried fish became popular in London and the south-east in the
middle of the 19th Century (Charles Dickens mentions a "fried fish
warehouse" in Oliver Twist) whilst in the north of England a trade in
deep-fried "chipped" potatoes developed. It is unclear when and where these
two trades were merged to become the fish and chip shop industry we know today.

In the UK, the chips are often served with malt vinegar or onion juice. (In
many cases something called "non-brewed condiment", which is actually a
solution of acetic acid in water with caramel added for colour, is used as a
substitute for genuine malt vinegar.) They are typically salted but this can
usually be varied according to requirements. Another popular dressing is
ketchup, though many chip shops charge extra for this. Often mushy peas are
added. Fish and chips are traditionally packaged with an inner white paper
wrapping and an outer insulating layer of printed or unprinted newspaper,
but today polystyrene packing is sometimes encountered.

In the US, malt vinegar (or, in less well-informed establishments, red wine
or cider vinegar) is often served with the combination as well.

Tartar sauce is also a common accompaniment. Mayonnaise is popular in Europe
and brown sauce in Scotland. A common Canadian preference is for white
vinegar on the chips and squeezed lemon on the fish.

The most common fish used for fish and chips is cod, but many kinds of fish
are used, especially other White fish such as pollock or haddock. Chip shops
also sometimes sell other deep-fried foods, anything from chicken to
pineapple. In Australia the type of fish most commonly used is called flake,
which is shark meat.

US fast food Restaurant chains that sell fish and chips include Long John
Silver's, H. Salt Fish and Chips, Arthur Treacher's, and, in the Pacific
Northwest, Ivar's. In the 1990s, the perception within the United States
that fish and chips were unhealthy led to a decline in consumption and the
financial problems of Long John Silver's and Arthur Treacher's. These brands
have been accquired by other restaurants and the current strategy of both of
these chains appears to be combining fish and chips with other brands to
create the concept of fun food.

In the UK, fish and chips are usually sold by independent restaurants (one
of the most famous being the Magpie Cafe in Whitby) and take-aways
colloquially known as chippies (chippie is a pejorative term for a
prostitute in American English), but there is one well-known chain based in
the north of England called Harry Ramsden's. Roughly about 25% of all the
white fish consumed in the UK, and 10% of all potatoes, are sold through
fish and chip outlets.

The pronunciation of fish and chips is a traditional method of
distinguishing Australians and New Zealanders (see New Zealand English).

History

Fish and chips have, separately been eaten for many years - though the
potato wasn't introduced to Europe until the 17th century.

The first combined fish and chip shop was probably the one opened in London
by Joseph Malin in 1860.

During World War II, fish and chips was one of the few foods that were not
rationed in the UK.

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