Had you visited an English chippy (a fish 'n' chip shop) in the early part of the last century, that could well have been your order.
For a start, chips are what the Americans call "fries"; American potato chips are what the Brits call "crisps". Now, the term "ha'peth" is short for the term "halfpennyworth". In other words, it is the size of portion that you would have received for the price of half a penny. Yes, some things were ordered that way, and going back all those years, that would have been a regular portion.
Cod roe used to be a common item in those days, but I haven't seen them in recent years. Cod roe (the eggs of a cod, similar to caviar) was formed into a flat, round shape (similar to a fish cake, which, of course, is usually found in the chip shop), and fried.
In modern Britain, you can now find all sorts of things in a chippy, from pies and pasties to sausages in batter, and from spring rolls to curry sauce! Hardly traditional, I know, but still great food. Well, meat pies and pasties are fairly traditional, although another favourite item from the era, the saveloy (a spiced sausage with a thick red skin - pictured below), has all but disappeared too.
Saveloys by ian@thepaperboy.com is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Anyway, back to fishier things...
The menus today seem very limited compared to what I remember as a kid. Whether this is a result of the North Sea being overfished, or simply a change in tastes, I don't know, but it is sad. While it was always a staple, haddock has now replaced cod as the primary fish in many areas, and rock salmon (a more appealing name for several species of dogfish) is still widely available.
My personal favourite is plaice (seen below), a cold-water flatfish. It used to be one of the most expensive fish to buy, but now, it is now worse than cod or haddock. Plaice is a very light and flaky fish, with a beautifully delicate flavour.
As I mentioned, there are now an increasing number of omissions from the menu board. Coley, and pollock, for example. These are two species of the same genus, and are very similar to cod.
Another one is skate. A member of the ray family, skate wings were once extremely popular. So were skate knobs! It's okay, it's not what you are probably thinking... Skate knobs are simply small balls of flesh removed from the cheeks of the fish, and are very tasty indeed.
Finally, a good chip shop will have a wonderful variety of extras, and I'm not just talking about malt vinegar, ketchup, and brown sauce. I'm talking of things liked pickled onions, gherkins, and pickled eggs, and in the North of England in particular, mushy peas!
What about HP Brown Sauce!!?
ReplyDeleteI did mention brown sauce, but HP isn't the only one!
ReplyDelete