There does seem to be a line at Hadrians Wall. To the north - haddock, to the south Cod.

It's also, sadly, marks the limit of scotch pies.

The only redeeming feature of the North (where it is grim) is chips and gravy which we in the Beautiful South don't get.

I don't think saveloys are universal either.

BTW Fish and chips were introduced to us by the jews - it's a varient on a jewish meal, so breadcrumbs are closer to the original. It's still wrong though.

<i>The only redeeming feature of the North (where it is grim) is chips and gravy which we in the Beautiful South don't get.</i>

Ummm... Whisky?

Personally, I like many of the Scottish beers. And Haggis is really quite tasty.

We recently tried cod, haddock and huss back-to-back in a fish &amp; chip shop. They were all served piping hot and crispy so were at their best. Having tried them all we both thought that haddock was the best, then cod and then the huss.

I have a recipe that uses polenta (cornmeal) as a batter for chicken - dip in a bit of spiced flour, in some beaten egg and then roll in polenta before frying, and serve with fried banana.

But never thought of using it for fish. I have some raw prawns that I think might come up well using that.

You can get whisky in the south you know.

Scottish beers are a amatter of taste. I by and large don't like 'em.

Haggis is made by sweeping a butchers floor and putting the seepings in a balloon.

To bring the discussion around; huss is a kind of dogfish (ie a shark). So no catfish - just dog fish.

It also answers to rock salmon or rock eel.

<i>BTW Fish and chips were introduced to us by the jews - it's a varient on a jewish meal, so breadcrumbs are closer to the original.</i>

Certainly, however, the preference for cornmeal with catfish is not a Jewish thing, as catfish is not Kosher.

<i>Haggis is made by sweeping a butchers floor and putting the seepings in a balloon.</i>

I don't concern myself with how it is made, I only care how it tastes. It reminds me of dirty rice to some extent, which the southerners on this thread should know well.

Certainly, however, the preference for cornmeal with catfish is not a Jewish thing, as catfish is not Kosher.&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;

I was referring to British fish and chips - which are kosher. They were also one of the few staples not rationed during the war - hence the ubiquity.

We got ice cream parlours from the Italians, not to mention the curry house etc etc.

We've been eating &quot;fusion food&quot; for thousands of years.

I am very fond of Fish and Chips, but it can be horrible if poorly done.

Apparently one of the reasons they used to use beef fat to fry was thehigher temperatures obtained. Ideally the batter should almost instantly solidify into a hard coating, leaving the fish to &quot;Steam&quot; within the hardened shell and the batter not to absorb too much fat.

The best F&amp;C I have eaten was from a fish shop in Bordon in Hampshire. The owner had won &quot;Young fish fryer of the year&quot; several times, and weighed about 400 pounds, so obviously liked his own cooking (Never trust a thin chef?). The queues were often very long, but he would say &quot;Sorry, not cooking until the oil gets back up to temperature&quot; - possibly the secret of his success.

I read somewhere that fish and chips were a Marks and Spencer sort of thing.
Jews would sell fried fish and Belgians sold fried potatoes.
One day, a Jew and a Belgian had stalls close together and the rest is history.
I was recently in a small Suffolk town where there are two chippies in the same street.
One had a queue halfway down the street and the other had hardly anyone.

I am very fond of Fish and Chips, but it can be horrible if poorly done.&gt;&gt;&gt;

Ain't that the truth.

This is why I feel sorry for tourists. They have heard of this marvellous dish and so order it at the first opportunity they get - usualy in a pub in a tourist hot spot. That's never going to go well. Never order F&amp;C in a pub - it will be minging.

You want a shop with a queue.

We had chips before we had fish n chips. The mill towns in the north (grim) had chip shops. They sold chips and pies.

Thanks for the interesting discussion. I take it from the posts that most Brits/Scots have not had fried catfish and french fries in the American South.

I suggest you try it next time you're in Dixie. It's a totally different experience than what you're used to. The cornmeal (you call it polenta in your parts) makes the catfish crisp and not greasy.

I also say that Haggis did kind of remind me of &quot;dirty rice&quot; as one poster pointed out.

So, if not a pub, give some concrete suggestions of where to get really good fish &amp; chips in London please. I'll be there in late July and I want the good stuff!

Kellye - The North Sea Restaurant has been recommended here. It has a sit-down resto as well as a take out shop front next door. It is at 7-8 Leigh Street, just 5-min walk south of British Library in Bloomsbury.

Hi Kellye
http://www.timeout.com/london/restau...atures/28.html

Good list of decent London chippies. CW is right pub fish and chips are just wrong. A lot of the time the fish will have been frozen and the chips will be totally different. A good chippy will have its fish fresh every morning.

I've had cat fish in Georgia with iced tea. Not impressed but I do agree the batter was better than UK batter which I find a bit too fatty.

Iced tea is ok in its way but I disliked it with fish.

Uk issues are more about the type of oil its fried in and the differnce between once, twice and thrice fried chips (fries). I like thrice but in vegtable oil

Still think Belgium horse fat is a step too far

London: Lost much of its flavor when they stopped wrapping it in newspaper :). Regards, Walter

Not to mention the entertainment value of reading the wrapping, especially if it was one of the News of the World's tales of errant vicars and (contd. p.94)

It still is wrapped in newspaper. It just hasn't got any printing on it now.

the old elf and safety strikes again. Damn that elf.