Fried fish
Fish fried in batter came to Britain with Sephardic Jewish immigrants from Spain and Portugal, who fried fish in oil so it could be eaten cold on the Sabbath. By the 1830s, fried fish was sold on the streets of London; Charles Dickens mentions a “fried fish warehouse” in Oliver Twist.
Chips
Fried potato chips were sold separately, and are often linked with the north of England and with Belgium and France, where frying potatoes was common.
The first fish and chip shops
Nobody knows exactly who first sold the two together. Two claims are often quoted: Joseph Malin, who is said to have opened a fish and chip shop in East London around 1860, and John Lees, who is said to have sold fish and chips from a hut in Mossley, Lancashire, around 1863.
Trawlers and railways
Steam trawlers brought more fish to British ports, and the railways carried it inland quickly. Fish and chips became cheap, filling food for working families in industrial towns, and chip shops spread across the country.
Wartime
Fish and chips was not rationed during the Second World War, and chip shops helped feed the country. It became part of British identity.
Today
Fish and chips is still a favourite, at the seaside, on a Friday night and, more and more, at weddings, parties and events, served from vans that bring the chip shop to the people.
The chip shop on the high street
For much of the twentieth century, the chip shop was a fixture of almost every British high street and estate. Friday was the traditional fish night, a habit with religious roots, and many families still have fish and chips on a Friday.
Regional differences
Fish and chips varies around the country. Haddock is the favourite in Scotland and much of the north; cod in the south. Gravy and mushy peas are popular in the north and the Midlands; curry sauce is loved everywhere. Some areas fry in beef dripping, others in vegetable oil. See cod or haddock? and the classic sides.
From shop to van
Mobile fish and chip vans have been around for a long time, serving villages and estates without a shop of their own. Today, many also serve weddings, parties and events, bringing the chip shop to wherever people are gathering.
Quick answers
Who invented fish and chips?
Nobody knows for sure. Joseph Malin in London and John Lees in Lancashire are both often credited, from the 1860s.
Was fish and chips rationed in the war?
No. It stayed off the ration.
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