Fish and Chips

The classic double act like Laurel and Hardy a British National treasure of a dish that has fed millions of memories. Winston Churchill called them "The good companions" and they are thought of as the quintessentially English dish, but it's origins are probably from France or Spain brought by Jewish immigrants to England in the 1830's.

Moist white fish in my case Cod fillet with a crisp crunchy golden batter. The batter is simple, sieve two cups of plain flour into a bowl, add 1 tsp of baking powder, a teaspoon of Salt and an egg.

Now slowly adding a bottle of very cold Brown Beer whilst whisking the mixture together so you have the constancy of half whipped cream, quite thick. Let this rest in the fridge for ten minutes.

Get your Deep fat fryer hot to 180c. Dust your Cod fillet in plain seasoned flour and then dip into the Batter mixture until it is properly covered, Remove the basket from the Fryer or the batter can stick to the basket as I learnt years ago from bitter experience! and gently lower the fish into the fryer, use a slotted spoon if you are nervous.

It takes about 3 to 4 minutes to cook until it's taken on this golden colour. Don't cook more than 2 at once and keep warm in a pre heated Oven whilst you cook the Chips.

Delicious I served with some Mushy Peas and lashings of Salt and Vinegar. Amazing!