Fish N chips

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Cugel
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Re: Fish N chips

Post by Cugel »

simonineaston wrote: 14 Jun 2022, 11:02am Just read this - very funny - gotta say I mostly agree!!
Down with fish and chips, the most disgusting meal on Earth. A new survey says we’ve stopped buying the British classic from the chippy. Thank God: it’s a dreadful mush of artery-hardening grease
Some years ago, on holiday in Pembrokeshire, we all tripped to the fish & chip shop in the high street of a certain small town of that district. It was Sunday so everything else was closed (the usual thing at those times, now a couple of decades or more ago). It was a "classic" chippie, still using lard to fry.

None of us could eat the stuff. Ever since then, members of our holidaying party recall what became remembered as the "lard liqueurs" - lukewarm limp lumps, half tattie and half congealing lard. And the fish was a bit old, despite the nearness of the sea!

Cugel
“Practical men who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence are usually the slaves of some defunct economist”.
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simonineaston
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Re: Fish N chips

Post by simonineaston »

Rockfish to take cod off the menu this summer
I don't know who Rockfish are but perhaps the fact that they're giving the old cod the swerve might set an example. Elsewhere I see that I can buy lumps of actual rock fish ie dog shark ect ect by post - hmmm - not sure if that's such a great idea, given some real-world delivery times!
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
ANTONISH
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Re: Fish N chips

Post by ANTONISH »

simonineaston wrote: 14 Jun 2022, 11:02am Just read this - very funny - gotta say I mostly agree!!
Down with fish and chips, the most disgusting meal on Earth. A new survey says we’ve stopped buying the British classic from the chippy. Thank God: it’s a dreadful mush of artery-hardening grease
I never worry about saturated fat. I'm not sure that dietary fat has much effect on cholesterol - my cholesterol level is low as was my Father's.
Fish and chips are an occasional part of my diet - mostly I cook things in olive oil and butter - not necessarily both at the same time.
briansnail
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Re: Fish N chips

Post by briansnail »

Needs to be fresh. My mates love a nice piece of COD. Note Mackerel is healthier more omega's. You can't have everything.
PH
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Re: Fish N chips

Post by PH »

Done right, Haddock & Chips is my favorite meal, a real treat, I don't begrudge paying the £9 - £12 the decent chippies charge. sadly it seems to be those chippies that are struggling while those offering £4.99 meal deals thrive.
But back to the OP - I don' think chippies struggling has much to do with the range of fish, I suspect it makes up a fairly small proportion of the sales. That we might eat more locally caught fish is a different matter, I must admit I don't, in part because I'm not confident with cooking it.
Last edited by PH on 14 Jun 2022, 9:11pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jdsk
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Re: Fish N chips

Post by Jdsk »

I've now read the original paper:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.10 ... 22-01588-5

It won't put me off eating fish, and even if the true effect turned out to be as suggested it might not. The effect is too small.

It is interesting.

Jonathan
Jdsk
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Re: Fish N chips

Post by Jdsk »

PH wrote: 14 Jun 2022, 8:54pmThat we might eat more locally caught fish is a different matter, I must admit I don't, in part because I'm not confident with cooking it.
You're not alone. This often comes up in discussions of why consumption has dropped.

For seafood it's also connected to fear of food poisoning from inappropriate storage, preparation or cooking.

But it doesn't have to be like that. A few techniques will cover a whole range of fish and seafood. And there's possibly only one counterintuitive trick.

Where would you like to start? : - )

Jonathan
Jdsk
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Re: Fish N chips

Post by Jdsk »

simonineaston wrote: 13 Jun 2022, 10:13pm Stressed chippies report having to put up prices again and again and fear losing their core market ie that a fish N chip supper is (was) a relatively cheap evening meal option. And yet, we plump again and again, for expensive and often over-fished choices, the obvious example being cod, cod and more blinkin' cod...
Now that our goverment has kicked the UK fishing industry in the cods by wrecking their all-important trade with the EU, isn't about time us bonkers Brits took to our very own fish, caught in our very own waters, and helped out, in no particular order, our tastebuds, our wallets, our fishermen and our chippies?
Fabulous to eat fish found in our waters include: herring, mackerel, pollock, dabs, pilchards, plaice, hake, as well as tons of excellent crabs we turn our noses up and go (or used to) instead to the continent.
...
Eating a wider range of fish and seafood would probably be a smart move for both health and sustainability.

But lots of them move around by themselves so that "our very own" doesn't really apply.

I'd replace that bit about nationalities with more attention to sustainability (see Vorpal's post above) and easier trade with people who want to eat bits that we don't and vice versa.

And you're spot on about the problems for our industry with the changed trade arrangements. And the APPG on Fisheries produced a report this week:

"Brexit: Voices of the UK fishing industry":
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/ ... y_Web2.pdf

Jonathan
Psamathe
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Re: Fish N chips

Post by Psamathe »

When I see stats about the number of people in the UK becoming vegetarian or vegan is expect that would cause some reduction in demand for fish (and so many of those switching even consider pescatarian) Last stats I saw was 14% of the UK adult population - that's a fair number who wont even consider fish.

Ian
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simonineaston
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Re: Fish N chips

Post by simonineaston »

Variety doesn't always pay dividends, mind... I recall cooking some meaty eel or other - conger maybe? and thinking it would be smart to cut it into steak-like slices before cooking. Well I leave the exact details of the disaster that ensued to those with experience of the pesky critters - but let's just say that I now know there's a good reason they used to use eel skin for hinges...
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
Tangled Metal
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Re: Fish N chips

Post by Tangled Metal »

Toxins in fish depends on the fish. I watched a programme where a food / fish expert discussed such issues and also issues about the healthy things in fish. Iirc white fish build up toxins throughout the flesh. Oily fish collect it in the dark meat leaving the lighter meat with lower toxin levels. Also, the feeding style also plays a big factor. Hunting fish swimming freely tend to collect less toxins I heard but bottom dwellers / feeders have higher toxins levels.

I'm no zoologist or food / fish expert and the above could partly be mis-remembered but I took from that programme that oily fish is generally healthier.

BTW I remember reading that there's a species not too dissimilar to mackeral called horse mackerel or scad that's plentiful, can be fished easily and iirc makes good battered fish. I think the way forward is to switch out over fished species with those from healthy populations that are similar. I think pollack for cod and haddock
Nearholmer
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Re: Fish N chips

Post by Nearholmer »

Have you folks missed the Binley Mega Chippy phenomenon, which to me suggests that F&C still has a place in British affections, and that some truly crazy stuff originates on social media?

I always found the portion sizes in trad F&C shops way too large, so would order a child's portion, but I've now cottoned-on to pensioner portions, which seem to be about 2/3 of "normal" for half the price!

But, F&C is a "rare treat", for a combination of healthy-eating and cost reasons; now that i know the fish might be a cocktail of toxins it'll possibly become rarer still.
Jdsk
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Re: Fish N chips

Post by Jdsk »

Nearholmer wrote: 15 Jun 2022, 11:26amI always found the portion sizes in trad F&C shops way too large, so would order a child's portion, but I've now cottoned-on to pensioner portions, which seem to be about 2/3 of "normal" for half the price!

But, F&C is a "rare treat", for a combination of healthy-eating and cost reasons; now that i know the fish might be a cocktail of toxins it'll possibly become rarer still.
Agree about the portions. But there's no need to eat it all at once. And it is possible to leave some of the batter!

Jonathan
Nearholmer
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Re: Fish N chips

Post by Nearholmer »

But there's no need to eat it all at once. And it is possible to leave some of the batter!
You don't seem to understand the lack of self-control, and near-instant regret, involved.
Jdsk
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Re: Fish N chips

Post by Jdsk »

Nearholmer wrote: 15 Jun 2022, 11:41am
But there's no need to eat it all at once. And it is possible to leave some of the batter!
You don't seem to understand the lack of self-control, and near-instant regret, involved.
: - )

There are some very interesting advertisements around at the moment about psychological methods to improve weight loss. I might see if there's any supporting evidence...

Jonathan
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