Fish and Chips

Fish’n Chips

When I think about eating Fish and Chips, I think about eating them on an Australian beach, wrapped in newspaper, as once was tradition. Well if I’m totally honest when I was younger, newspaper was replaced with white butcher paper. The paper wrapping though with the steaming hot fish, chips and potato cakes inside creates the aroma that evokes nostalgia and happy culinary memories of my youth in Australia.

Fish & Chips should be eaten on the beach, the paper parcel opened directly on the sand – ‘pic-nic style’ while everybody digs in. Fish & Chips should also be smothered with salt and vinegar.  Mushy peas to accompany Fish & Chips are not as commonly found in Australia, yet in the U.K. it seems you can’t have one without the other. In Australia though we will often add fried Dim Sim’s to the mix. (My personal favourite)!

I’ve never tried to replicate Aussie Fish and Chips, and I realised a little recipe research was necessary. OK, so when I say Aussie, we all know that Fish and Chips is actually quintessentially British, and it would have been the Brits who were responsible for bringing it to Australia.

According to the website Historic UK   both Lancashire and London claim to being the first to invent Fish & Chips.  In 1839 Charles Dickens referred to a fried fish warehouse in his novel, ‘Oliver Twist’ and the history of how it came to be a British staple is an interesting read. (click here to read more).  Just think that during the Second World War, Fish & Chips were one of the few foods not to be rationed. My research led me to Gordon Ramsay for his beer batter recipe  and Heston Blumenthal for his thrice cooked chips. Watch here for the full BBC episode or for a shorter video of just the rcipe, click here.

Cod is the fish of choice for Fish & Chips in the U.K., whereas in Australia the first and most common choice is probably ‘Flake’. Flake is a fillet of Gummy Shark from Australia. Flake fillets are soft, moist, white and almost boneless with a mild fish flavour. You may also find Whiting, Snapper, Barramundi or Flathead.

Living in Italy, I have easy access to salted cod – ‘Baccalà’ and while in Italy you may be lucky to find a foodstore that has baccalà soaking and ready to eat that very day, it is more common to buy it salted. This requires much more attention and planning. Salted cod fillets require soaking in water for 2 – 3 days. You need to rid the fish of the salt, and re-hydrate it.  Three days is probably more realistic if the baccalà fillets are thick.  The water must be changed every 4-6 hours, although obviously one must sleep so it can sit in a basin of water in the fridge overnight. While I was in the kitchen, I would often let the water run slowly into the basin for about 10 minutes in between water changes. Your dedication is rewarded by plump fish fillets that have flavour without being overly salty.

Gordon suggests to prepare the batter the night before, stating that the more you let it rest the lighter and crispier will be the result. The addition of a leavening agent such as baking powder or yeast is to aerate the batter as it cooks. The carbonated water and/or beer also assists in aerating the batter – ‘fluffing’ it up.  Depending on the type of beer you use, it may also be responsible for adding colour and flavour to the batter. .

I know this seems like a long recipe to read, but I’ve included the chips, how I made the mushy peas and the potato cakes all together in the one post – so four recipes all together!

Beer-Battered Cod

I used Gordon Ramsay’s Beer Batter recipe which I doubled because I wanted to be sure there was enough and, not having baking powder I substituted the plain flour for self raising flour.

• 4 – 6 thick cod fillets (baccalà)
• 120g plain flour
• 100g rice flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 130ml soda water
• 170ml beer
• salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• extra rice flour to coat cod fillets
• vegetable oil for deep frying

METHOD

1. Mix together both flours, the salt and sugar in a large bowl.
2. Make a well in the centre and whisk in the soda water and the beer. Use a large metal whisk to make a thick but smooth batter.
3. Once you are ready to make your fish and chips, you will need to pat dry the baccalà fillets and then cover them completely with seasoned rice flour. Wet cod fillets will make your batter soggy.
4. Heat plenty of oil in either a deep, heavy-bottomed saucepan or an electric deep fryer. The oil should reach a temperature of 180-190°C.
5. Stir once again the batter, and dip one floured fish fillet deep into it. Turn it over a few times until the fish is thoroughly coated.
6. Carefully lower the battered fish fillet into the hot oil. You can use your hands but best to use a pair of tongs.
7. You can repeat with a second fish fillet and add to deep fryer if there is room for two fillets to be cooked together. Turn fillets over while they are frying.
8. Cook fish until the batter is golden brown, about 5-6 minutes – you want the batter golden brown and the fish to be cooked so beware if the batter browns too quickly – your oil may be too hot.
9. Remove the fish with a slotted spoon, shake off oil and place on a plate lined with kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.
10. If you need to also fry potato chips, you can keep the fried baccalà warm in a low oven while you finish off the chips.

If you are cooking for a few people, you may need to have two pots of oil on the go, frying chips and potato cakes in one and the fish in the other. (I found the chips took a lot longer to cook than the fish).

Heston Blumenthal’s Hot Chips

If I am honest, I may not cook my potato chips 3 times again… absolutely twice yes,  but I just felt that this method provides more crunch than potato, and although I know that sounds wonderful, it was just a little too much for me. I want the crunch, but I also want more fluffy potato inside.

• 1kg potatoes , peeled and cut into 2cm x 2cm x 6cm chips
• oil for frying (Heston recommends groundnut or grapeseed oil – I used sunflower oil)
• salt

1. Put the cut chips into a bowl under running water for 5 minutes to wash the starch off. (Gordon on the contrary says not to wash off the starch). I just added them to a pot of cold water and brought it all to the boil, and then reducing heat, allowed it to simmer)
2. Place 2 litres of cold tap water in a large saucepan and add the potatoes. Place the pan over a medium heat and simmer until the chips are almost falling apart (approximately 20–30 minutes, depending on the potato).
3. Carefully remove the cooked chips and place them on a cooling rack to dry out. Then place the rack in the freezer for at least 1 hour to remove more moisture. (I did this part the day before and then proceeded the following day when I planned to eat the Fish & Chips).
4. Heat a deep-fat fryer or a deep pan no more than half filled with oil (to a depth of around 10 cm) to 130ºC. Fry the chips in small batches until a light crust forms (approximately 5 minutes), remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper.
5. Put the potatoes on a cooling rack and place in the freezer for at least 1 hour. (At this stage, if you don’t want to cook and serve immediately, the chips can be kept in the fridge for 3 days.)
6. Heat the oil in the deep-fat fryer or deep pan to 180ºC and fry the chips until golden (Heston says approximately 7 minutes – mine seemed to take longer but this may depend on size of fryer etc).
7. Drain and sprinkle with salt.
8. Test taste one or three ASAP!!!

Potato Cakes

These are known as Potato Scallops in New South Wales.

(for 6 potato cakes)

• 1 large potato
• beer batter (see recipe above)
  

1. Peel the potato,and using a sharp knife, carefully slice very thin ‘vertical’ slices, about 3mm thick.
2. Place potato pieces in a bowl of water if not using immediately to prevent the potato discolouring.
3. Place potato slices on a plate and microwave on high for 2 minutes.
4. Dip potato slices in beer batter (see recipe above) and fry in hot oil at 190°C , turning over once. Remove when both sides are golden brown.

Almost Mushy Peas

(I say ‘almost’ because I didn’t want a pureè of peas… so mine were just mashed very roughly by hand).  Some recipes use mint and also cream, but I just used the basics… peas, butter, salt & pepper.

• 3 Cups frozen peas
• 50g butter
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Remove peas from freezer and allow to defrost a little, then add them to a saucepan of cold water and bring to the boil. Reduce to simmer and allow to coo for just a few minutes. ( I do like a bit of a bite to my peas.)
2. Drain peas, keeping a little water aside and stir the butter through the peas. Use the saved water only if you think peas are to thick and ‘dry’.
3. Mash roughly with a fork, or use a hand held blender, blending only half the peas, leaving the other half mashed roughly by hand.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.