Fish & chips: Making a fuss of a favourite

13-Jun-2010 - Last updated on 16-Mar-2012 at 16:40 GMT

"If pubs got their arses in gear they could become the home for fish and chips," argues award-winning fish shop owner Mark Petrou. "It's a marriage...

"If pubs got their arses in gear they could become the home for fish and chips," argues award-winning fish shop owner Mark Petrou. "It's a marriage of two national treasures - they deserve each other."

He believes fish and chips and pubs are a match made in heaven and could even ensure each other's future.

Petrou - who claims to have "batter in the blood" - has just self-published a book about the history of fish and chips, National Treasure, which is due out at the end of the month.

Fish and chips is the most popular pub dish, according to the latest Publican Food Report. And Petrou believes pubs should take advantage of the 150th anniversary year to get punters used to having their fish and chips with a pint in their hand.

"At the moment fish and chips is trading in the wrong environment - trading out of the high street is bad for the product. It's in with all the riff-raff; it's compared to burgers and kebabs," he points out.

Petrou also argues that with modern frying equipment, fish and chips has become a healthier option and has up to 40 per cent less fat than many other 'fast foods' - which is another saleable point for customers.

"It's a fantastic meal," he says. "It's very honest and transparent. Fish and chips have been harvested from nature and just cleaned and cooked."

Better batter

And one thing you certainly won't find in your local chippie is a batter made from vodka, Brains Bitter and Guinness. The speciality from the Kings Arms in Pentyrch, South Wales, was concocted by tenant Padrig Jones.

He says the vodka reacts with the beer and stout to create an incredibly light and crispy batter. Jones has only been in the pub trade for six months but comes from a fine dining background, having established Le Gallois restaurant in Cardiff with his family.

He is part of a growing trend for chefs to move out of restaurants into pubs. While he describes the Kings Arms as a 'country village pub' Jones is fortunate in that his reputation also attracts customers from Cardiff.

"Everyone who comes here says our fish and chips tastes like it used to do," he says.

Jones sources sustainable fish from day boats or from a fish farm in the Shetland Islands to ensure freshness, and details where the fish has been caught on the menu.

Wherever possible he sources local Welsh produce and is also particularly proud of his mushy pea recipe, which combines the peas with root vegetables and stock.

Jones even triple-cooks his homemade chips at 130 degrees, 150 degrees and finally 190 degrees - "a bit like you would with proper roast potatoes" he says.

His main advice to other pubs is, "try and find fresh ingredients from a reputable supplier rather than frozen".

Fish and chips retail at £9.99 with a smaller bar snack version available for £5.95. A takeaway option - which started out as a favour to one elderly customer - is also available.

He says: "I do takeaway for the locals because the closest fish and chip shop is three miles away. It's something I want to work on and do more of. A lot of people don't even know we do it."

As Rob Brewer - co-manager at the St Austell Brewery-owned Rashleigh Arms in Cornwall - explains, being just 200 yards from the sea it would be "suicide" not to serve fish and chips. Yet the pub still makes sure it has that local touch with a batter made from St Austell Clouded Yellow Beer.

Brewer is also not neglectful of his chips. And while he has decided that with 900 covers a week he is not going to make the chips in-house, he has done the next best thing and bought them in fresh from his vegetable supplier.

Finding your fish

The pub, which won this year's Managed Pub of the Year title at The Publican Awards, serves haddock as a sustainable option. "We did look at using pollock this year but we couldn't get a stable supply," says Rob.

Mike Berthet, director of fish and seafood at M&J Seafood, says Scottish haddock is "the favourite" for fish and chips and is due to be granted Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) status for sustainability. He explains: "Once this happens pubs will be able to confidently say it's sustainable.

"We are also seeing a hefty uptake by pubs of pangasius - also known as the river cobbler. This is a farmed fish from Vietnam, which has a really nice, moist fillet and is skinless and boneless. It's also highly profitable - it's probably the most profitable version of fish and chips you can sell."

Mike recommends that pubs talk to their suppliers to make sure the fish they use is sustainable. He suggests a range of alternatives to Atlantic cod such as pollock, hake, hoki, and wild pacific MSC-certified or farmed Scottish or Norwegian halibut. Other alternatives pubs could try include skate nobs and cod cheeks.

Fish and chips is always on the menu at the Hoop in Stock, Essex, says Michelle Corrigan, co-owner of the freehold pub. It sources sustainably and so the fish used in the dish can change daily.

Corrigan says the Hoop gets round this by simply labelling it "fish of the day". That way customers can ask staff what fish it is and any further questions they may have. In Corrigan's experience, it's really not difficult to get customers to accept alternatives.

"Some people don't even bother asking what it is because they know the kind of good quality they will get here," she says.

The pub might use monkfish cheeks, monkfish tails, British tilapia or hake instead of cod and staff are kept-up-to-date with daily menu briefings.

Serious about chips

The Tommyfield in Kennington, South London, which opened its door just a few weeks ago, is named after the Oldham market where the first British chip shop is believed to have originated. The pub - part of the Renaissance Pub Group - takes its chips very seriously.

Mark Reynolds, one of the three owners of Renaissance, recommends that pubs make friends with their

vegetable supplier who can tell them which potato is best for chips at that particular moment in the season. He adds: "Make sure you don't prepare too much in advance, otherwise quality goes down."

There are many stories about the origins of fish and chips and Tommyfield market is also said to be the place where they first became a dish together.

The story goes that fried fish was popular in the south of the country while chips were liked in the north - gradually both increased their scope until they met in the middle at Oldham where the market was established.

"It's a name that's associated with our history," adds Reynolds. "It seems poignant really if you look at other pubs they are named after great kings or animals."

The actual inventor of fish and chips is disputed between the north and the south of the country with three main contenders - the Malin family in London, the Lee family in Oldham, and 'Granny Deuce' based in Yorkshire. Petrou says his extensive research using Census information has disproven all three claims. But he argues the evidence does suggest that fish and chips came together for the first time in the 1860s. He refuses however to weigh in on any side.

"I think it's far more romantic to let the north and south have these claims - it makes for a much better story to leave the water slightly murky," he says.

The Tommyfield fish and chips

Recipe by executive chef Massimo Tebaldi

Ingredients

For the batter