Fish-and-chip shop

There are two prevailing theories on who opened the first dedicated fish-and-chip shop; both date to the 1860s. Conventionally it is believed to have originated with an Eastern European Jewish family named Malin, who lived in Bow, London. It closed in the early 1970s after selling the exclusive rights to the recipe to an American fast-food chain, Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips, who marketed it in the U.S. as "the original" British recipe, reaching a peak in the 1970s with over 800 shops. As of 2025, only a handful of Arthur Treacher's are still in business, in northern Ohio, the last place in the world the traditional Malin's fish and chips is still made, though no longer with cod. The second contender for first shop is John Lees . While visiting Tommyfield Market in Oldham (now Greater Manchester), Lees saw a store selling fried chips. Putting the idea together he went back to his hometown of Mossley (also Greater Manchester) and, from a wooden kiosk at a marketplace, began selling fish with chips. In 1863 he moved to a permanent store. He even had a sign that said "Lee's Chip Potato Restaurant: Oldest Estd. in the World’". A blue plaque now hangs in Tommyfield Market proclaiming it as the origin of fish and chips. By 1910, there were around 25,000 chippies in the UK, reaching more than 35,000 at its peak in 1927, compared to only 10,500 by 2013. ==Etymology==

The word "chip shop" is first recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary in 1892. "Chippy" or "chippie" was first recorded in 1961. Occasionally the type of fish will be specified, as in 'Cod-n-Chips'. ==Operations==

Many British villages, suburbs, towns and cities have fish and chip shops, especially near coastal regions. Fish and chip outlets sell roughly 30% of all the white fish consumed in the United Kingdom, and they use 10% of the UK potato crop. In Ireland, many "chippers" are operated by Italian immigrant families, all native to the Province of Frosinone in Lazio. The Italian chip shop tradition began with Giuseppe Cervi, who took a boat to America in the 1880s but instead disembarked at Queenstown (modern-day Cobh in County Cork) and walked to Dublin, establishing a takeaway at 22 Great Brunswick Street (modern-day Pearse Street). ==Regional differences==

fish and chip shop in Bangladesh, a former British colony. In Scotland, the fish tends to be haddock, whereas in England, it tends to be cod. This is because both fish tend to be sourced from Scottish waters in the North Sea and then shipped around the UK. Haddock was thought to taste better than cod when fresh, while cod tasted better a few days later. In the days before refrigerated haulage this meant that haddock would taste bad by the time it made it out of Scotland, while the cod would still taste good if it took a few days to reach its destination. Hake, pollock, whiting, and plaice are also seen at many chip shops. In Scotland, 'special fish' is a variant where the haddock is breadcrumbed instead of battered. A number of fish and chip shop condiments exist, including salt and vinegar (very often actually non-brewed condiment) across the UK, mushy peas and curry sauce in various parts of the UK, chip spice in Hull, Hendersons Relish in Sheffield, chippy sauce in Edinburgh, gravy across much of the UK, mushy pea and mint sauce in Nottingham and Derby, and gravy and cheese in Yorkshire. In Canada, most shops offer malt vinegar or the option to add gravy, usually for a small charge. There are also regional variations with the oil used to cook the fish and chips. Traditional frying uses beef dripping or lard; however, vegetable oils, such as palm oil, rapeseed or peanut oil (used because of its relatively high smoke point) now predominate. There are also a number of other offerings at fish and chip shops that do not involve fish, such as the battered sausage. It is now generally rare to find a fish and chip shop that offers no main course besides fish and chips in the UK. Burgers, pies, pasties, pizzas, sausages, kebabs and chicken (all of which may or may not be served or bought with chips) are all regular menu items in many outlets. Many also offer chips with topping options such as cheese, mushy peas, gravy or curry sauce. In Australia, a common variant of the fish and chip shop is one that sells charcoal chicken in addition to the usual battered fish and related foods, and two dishes to come from this culture are the "burger with the lot" (or "Aussie burger") and the halal snack pack in stores that sell doner kebab meat or use shredded chicken meat. ==See also==