Hidden secrets of British fish and chips: WWII, newspaper wrapping, and more!

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

How do you like to eat your fish and chips?

[@owenmcgheeandbdawg]

Straight away and covered with salt and vinegar, I'm lucky that we have a chippy van come regularly so they're fresh from the "shop". I live in a seaside town so often eating them is a dangerous sport because of the seagulls. Great video.

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

I never used to like vinegar on fish and chips, but now I cover mine in it! Nothing like fish and chips by the seaside - one of my favorite parts of now being British. :)

[@neilmorrison7356]

If we have fish and chips from a chippy to be eaten at home we buy the fish separately from the chips helps stop the batter going soft. I was taught this by someone I did my degree with whose family ran a chip shop. They were of course Italian.

[@barneylaurance1865]

@@neilmorrison7356 Can't you buy it all together and ask them to wrap the fish separately?

[@neilmorrison7356]

@@barneylaurance1865 depends on the chip shop.

[@woodentie8815]

The fish and chips to my knowledge -70 years old - were never served on newspaper, rather, after being wrapped up with a piece of greaseproof and plain paper, the outer layer was newspaper, I guess to insulate and keep the chips hot. As I remember, fish and chips in my young days were 6d(2.5p) for chips and 9d(3.75p) for fish, a cheap meal - how times have changed!

[@clivewilliams3661]

Which part of the country were you in? I used to get a tanner's worth of chips and scraps from the chippy in Sutton, Surrey in late 1950's/early 1960's wholly wrapped in newspaper.

[@woodentie8815]

@@clivewilliams3661 Greater Manchester. Talking about the same times.

[@davidoakley2722]

I'm 74 and can remember getting my chips in newspaper they tasted better than in plain paper

[@joncornpar]

Wales 1960's definitely wrapped in newspaper, there was uproar when they banned newspaper.

[@raibeart1955]

Tell me ! I paid £15.70 a couple of nights ago and the chips were just warm. All the best to you and yours. Rab

[@alicemilne1444]

Back in the 1960s/70s in Scotland, fish and chips as a take-away were filled into grease-proof paper bags, with a sheet of grease proof paper over the top. The newspaper was the outside wrapping and provided for insulation - to keep your hands from burning and to keep the food hot. We were not eating printing ink.

[@iandeare1]

It never was about direct ink to food contact... it was ink to fingers...

[@andyward8336]

Every couple of weeks I go to a open air museum to have fish and chips cooked in beef dripping in a Victorian fish and chip shop . I was working in the north east of England and the local chippy had picked Gurnard to accompany your fish and chips . In the 60s/70s you could also get rock salmon which was dog fish or bull huss . Also as a kid there was a fish and chip van that would drive around selling fresh cooked fish and chips. Also we had a lorry drive around that was a grocery shop.

[@TukikoTroy]

As a kid in the 60s, very common to run round to the chippie for a 'bag of scraps' for 2d (2 old pennies) These were scarps of cooked batter skimmed off the hot oil and dumped in a corner of the hot display to keep warm

[@TequilaDave]

They still sell scraps at my local chippies but down in Devon they're called "gribbles" 😋

[@missharry5727]

We would always ask for some scraps with ours.

[@woodentie8815]

About the same time. If the chippy owners were feeling generous they’d give us kids a serving of scraps (we called them fish bits) for nowt!

[@markrichardson3421]

I remember in the seventies saving old newspapers for the local chippie.

[@grahamwalker5693]

YES TRUE BUT THEY WERE FOR ADDED WARMTH

[@brianwhittington5086]

​@@grahamwalker5693 Best insulated wrapper for the long walk home.

[@NataliePine]

The Rhondda valley has a chippy named "A Fish Called Rhondda", and further down the road there used to be one called "Almighty Cod".

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Love those!!

[@andrewbutler7681]

We have one called "The Codfather"...

[@roberthayter157]

Love the Welsh sense of humour. 😊

[@66marshallandrew]

We had one in Sheffield called A Salt N Battered and another called Codrophenia🤣

[@wessexdruid7598]

@@roberthayter157A local here is called Fry Days.

[@vijay-c]

Love that you mentioned the history of them being an imported & anglicised dish! Loads of people don't know that & it's really important & interesting to highlight the impact immigrants have had on British culture.

[@PedroConejo1939]

There are loads of 'traditional' foods that are not indigenous. This is not limited to Britain but occurs certainly across Europe, if not worldwide. It is a Good Thing.

[@vijay-c]

@@PedroConejo1939 Yeah, I agree it's a good thing, it even stretches to the modern era in the UK with a dish like chicken tikka masala, and other "Indian food" being created by Bangladeshi immigrants in the UK, but you won't find it in India outside tourist areas!

[@idristaylor5093]

I'm so glad you raised the importance of the Industrial Revolution. So many YTers miss this critical point.

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

The history was really interesting to learn about and share. Thank you for watching!

[@neilgayleard3842]

Football has always played a part. Having some before or after a game still goes on.

[@littleannie390]

Mushy peas are naturally dried mature peas that are soaked and then boiled until they break down into mushy peas, they contain more starch than fresh or frozen younger peas. My mother used to buy the dried peas and make her own mushy peas to have with roast beef. They were definitely the best.

[@woodentie8815]

Talking 50/60 years and more ago, you could never beat mushy peas from the chippy. Nowadays I soak my own - bachelor’s dried peas - then cook them ‘til they’re mushy. Messy and time-consuming but far preferable to the tinned variety masquerading as mushy peas!

[@gillianrimmer7733]

I'm in my 70s, and have always made my own mushy peas. The tinned ones are disgusting - as are most of those in chip shops. I make a batch once a month and freeze portions to microwave whenever we want them. Nothing better than a proper mushy pea. We never have them with fish and chips though - just with different kinds of meat pies and roast dinners. - the original Yorkshire way.

[@woodentie8815]

@@gillianrimmer7733 Regarding the cooking and freezing, I do exactly the same.

[@chrissmith2114]

Mushy peas are same as marrowfat peas ( they are carlin or maple pea variety left to dry on the plant to get starchy ), you can get canned marrowfat peas which are delicious but mushy peas are dried marrowfat peas that get soaked in bicarbonate and then cooked.

[@robertwatford7425]

My local Chippie stopped using just newspaper in the Sixties - wrapping the food in clean paper and then adding newspaper ouside that. I've never been keen on fish so I have a pie, a pastie or that wonderful invention, the Battered Sausage. Chippies also sell other wonderful British delicacies such as pickled onions, pickled eggs and saveloys. In Scotland they go for deep fried pizza and deep fried chocolate bars. And you could write a book about the names of chippies - in fact I think someone has! One near here is called 'The Piece of Cod'. I look forward to the next in-depth examination :-)

[@philipellis7039]

If you are ever in the West Midlands you might see Orange Chips as a local speciality. These are chips dipped in a thin batter with turmeric to give the colour. The vinegar in fish and chip shops usually isn’t vinegar, it’s non brewed condiment. One of the biggest makers of this is in Halesowen in the West Midlands so if I’m on holiday elsewhere in the U.K. I like to look on the bottom of ‘vinegar’ bottles for a little Halesowen stamp.

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Oh wow, haven't heard of that! Thanks for sharing and definitely will check it out!

[@BrianCotterill-f9s]

Another important item that you got at a fish & chip shop, which are free is scrumps, which are the little bits of fried batter that have come detached from the fish in the fryer. The Chippy would put the scrumps under the heat light, where the cooked fish were placed, so that they dried out a little, and if asked for would put an amount in with the chips which added an extra crispy addition to the taste. Scrumps is the normal term used in parts of Lincolnshire, but have also known them to be called scraps.

[@davidharvey4323]

Concerning fish and chips,I grew up during 1940’s and 50’s and i remember the chip shop used to wrap your meal in a layer of tissue paper then wrapped the whole thing in newspaper, I ha never seen it wrapped in just newspaper.

[@warden330]

Glad you are trying to get into the historical background of these topics. As others have noted, the industrial revolution, and in particular urbanisation, did a lot to create and cement elements of British culture. By the 1851 census half the population of England and Wales lived in towns and cities, much higher than elsewhere in the world, and that had all sorts of impact. Fresh fish became widely available through the railways, and could be transported direct to the cities. Mushy peas were basically the result of canning. Potatoes were a ready source of carbohydrate that would be transported in bulk and stored. You also mentioned rationing. That is a topic in itself, and few outside the UK realise that it continued long after the second world war. Meat rationing ended in 1954.

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Thank you for watching! Appreciate your knowledge on the history as well - the rations point is fascinating. When looking for a ration booklet example for the video, I came across a lot from the 50s - and was surprised because I did think it ended after the war. Definitely an upcoming video topic.

[@owenmcgheeandbdawg]

This has been so entertaining and enjoyable to watch. Thank You for Being

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Thank you so much for watching and I'm glad you enjoyed!

[@ianjackson1674]

"Harrys' Plaice", "The Contented Sole", "The Fish and Chip Barn". Don't forget the renaissance of the fish and chip van, cooking on the move and touring the smaller villages to keep them supplied. A lot of pubs do decent fish and chips as well.

[@davidjones332]

The "Battered Friar" springs to mind, and there must be hundreds of puns on "Plaice"

[@lucyj8204]

A chip van comes to our estate for two hours once a week and always has a queue. They batter and fry to order so it's always huff puff fresh and hot, with soft flaky fish and properly crunchy fish. Hmm. It's Tuesday today, which is the chip van day ...

[@robert3987]

Fish & chips are very popular in Australia and NZ.

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

I noticed that when I went to NZ last year - delicious!

[@JOHNSMITH-if9jr]

@@GirlGoneLondonofficial only we mostly eat flake ( shark )

[@Gary-d4z]

Don’t doubt yourself! Ur doing great ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@saxon-mt5by]

The ban on the use of newspaper wrapping was as a result of the growing use of the offset-litho process in newspaper production. The ink used in letterpress printing did not disolve in the cooking fat, unlike litho ink.

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Didn't know that, thank you for sharing!

[@CollectiveWest1]

Thanks Kalyn. You are doubling down on your new approach, combining two of the UK's obsessions in a single video. The US channel sounds interesting too. Fish and chips was a useful high calorie food option for workers and their families in the Industrial Revolution, as they often worked long hours and had limited facilities for food preparation. Funny shop names, you ask? Jack the Chipper is out there, as is the Laughing Haddock.

[@TequilaDave]

FYI Most old school chippies will be closed on Mondays due to the lack of fresh fish as the fishermen have Sundays off work.

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

I have ALWAYS wondered why they were closed on Mondays. As I always seem to crave it on a Monday. Now that's cleared up!

[@TequilaDave]

@@GirlGoneLondonofficial Ha ha 😂 I always seem to crave Chinese on a Tuesday when my local takeaway is shut!

[@JOHNSMITH-if9jr]

@@GirlGoneLondonofficial same in Australia

[@RogersRamblings]

In autumn 1972 I bought fish and chips in newspaper, the paper was dated 1918.

[@thevjoiners]

I’m from the south of England but spent some years living in Bradford, West Yorkshire, and was introduced to “scraps”. They’re the little bits of batter shed from the fish, scooped up and offered as a crunchy topping for your chips. Absolutely divine and I have no idea why it’s never an option down south. Now I really fancy fish & chips (with scraps!) 🤤

[@arthurvasey]

Probably because they believe them to be “unhealthy” - the same excuse that Somerset carveries have for not serving chicken skin and pork crackling and why you don’t get fat on bacon in cafés!

[@JOHNSMITH-if9jr]

i remember eating this in Chippenham in the late 70,s

[@ivanpennell7664]

FYI. Almost without exception what you get in Chip shops is Not actually vinegar. Instead what is called vinegar is if fact non brewed condiment. It is basically ethanoic acid and water. The reason for this is that vinegar being brewed like wine or beer goes off when exposed to air. The other story i was told was it was first made to keep the tempernce movement happy, malt vinegar has a touch of alcohol in it. What you get in the shop is made from a concentrate and water. It doesn't spoil and does the same job which is to nutralise the fat/oil the fish and chips are cooked in. I actually rather prefer it to real vinegar.

[@Gary-d4z]

Awesome thanks, your insight is very helpful. ❤❤

[@lesskeels3417]

Hi Kalyn. We (my better half and me) had fish and chips only yesterday from our local one, the City Fish Bar in Canterbury, Kent, where we live. Very nice it was too. He also gave me a "gherkin" which is sort of like a sausage-shaped pickle, goes very well with it. To drink we both had Coca-Cola, by the can, well Coke is a universal beverage, very refreshing, and overall it was a good meal. Think that there even are some places in Mauritius (my better half comes from there) that do it now, under different fish examples, but overall it's still relatively cheap, as it's always been, Come summer we'll be away there, the cost of living is rather high now, just as in the States, we came back from NYC a few months back, didn't bring many US dollars back with us though!!

[@Chris_GY1]

My hometown of Grimsby is a fishing port a Haddock port, Grimsby had the largest fishing fleet in Britain until the cod wars against Iceland (the country not the frozen store), today Grimsby is the biggest fish processing centre in Britain with the largest concentration of coldstores. Haddock is the best fish. North East Lincolnshire seaside resort Cleethorpes has the biggest fish and chips shop on Cleethorpes Pier called Papas.

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Didn't know that, thanks so much for sharing!

[@peterhewson3216]

Chris is right - from Grimsby here and haddock is the fish dish with free scraps. My family went to sea as deep sea fishermen and we used get haddock steaks fresh from the docks which tasted superb. Papas is good and my own personal favourite is Blue Ocean, opposite where I live. A dream come true lol!@@GirlGoneLondonofficial

[@matc6221]

In Cardiff Centre we have Caroline Street, which is dubbed 'Chip Alley" as it is full of chip and takeaway shops. The road is often packed with on the weekend nights and especially after a match or concert in the city with mostly the drunken and intoxicated eagerly filling their bellys. Many a tale has come from the average joe to celebrities from the their experiences on street. Even Wynny Evans the 'GoCompare ad man' if I remember correctly, sang a ditty and payed homage by a Chip Alley inspired dish he created from his experiences there, when on Celebritiy MasterChef 2023. Thanks GGL👍👍👍👍👍

[@richt71]

Morning Kalyn. Fish and chips were my childhood Friday night meal after our family went swimming at the local public swimming pool. I used to think it was a cheap meal and in some places across the UK it still can be but near me in the outer reaches of London my local chippy charges nearly £16 for fish, chips and mushy peas. So not cheap. I still remember going out of secondary school in my teens to grab a newspaper cone of chips from the local chippy. Oh and always with scraps. Btw what's happened to scraps. Few places seem to have any now!

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Fish and chips have definitely become more expensive even from when I moved here 10 years ago! I've heard a few people talk about scraps...that sounds amazing, have never heard of it though!

[@jamesbeeching6138]

The paper used nowadays is still "newsprint" but without the "Print"!

[@stevengeorge5724]

We called it fish and chips in New England growing up in the 60's. It's called fish and chips there still, as it is in Michigan where we live now. Also, we used to have them wrapped in newspaper in Massachusetts in the 60's, too. Sometime after that they started the whitish-type paper with no ink.

[@chrissmith2114]

Mushy peas are same as marrowfat peas ( they are carlin or maple pea variety left to dry on the plant to get starchy ), you can get canned marrowfat peas which are delicious but mushy peas are dried marrowfat peas that get soaked in bicarbonate and then cooked.

[@AB-ku4my]

Hi Kalyn. Forgive the massive missive, but you've opened a huge memory rabbit hole for me - fourth generation chippie. As you said, fish and chips were not rationed during that period mentioned, but the shops were obliged to close no later than 9p.m. partly to save fuel and partly to keep the blackout intact in case of air-raids. Mum, who grew up through this, said she thought all adults worked til 9o'clock and then came home and got drunk, since her mother and grandmother both owned chippies, and lived in London (nobody knew if the next day would come, so they partied as if it wouldn't). Dropping newsprint came about because news publishers started using semi-gloss paper to which traditional inks did not adhere very well (Dad was in the printing business at the time), and the last big change was the complete ban on beef dripping during the B.S.E. (mad cow disease) outbreak, which forced all the traditional shops to change to veg oil, a travesty in my opinion. My own time working as a fryer was mostly fun but veg oil in quantity makes everything super greasy- hair, skin, clothes, every surface in the shop including the ceiling meant closing just after the pubs and cleaning until well after midnight then walking two miles home to avoid stinking up any of the few taxis available.

[@chrissmith2114]

Try the British standard of chips cooked in beef fat, the beef fat has a much higher smoke point than any vegetable / seed oil ( and in any case seed oils are very bad for you ). They are cooked at higher temperature and crispier on the outside and just so much nicer.

[@roberthickton7732]

As a child of the 60s remember taking newspaper to the fish and chip shop. The fish and chips tasted different when safety wrapping used .

[@johnhaller5851]

I remember in about the 1980s (maybe the 1990s) that my local newspaper moved to use soy-based inks. Before that, inks, particularly color inks were made from heavy metals. This was probably not a good combination with food. Recycled paper of the time was also likely to be contaminated with heavy metals.

[@jonathanfinan722]

We have an excellent chippy called Riversdale. There are people queuing out of the door at the weekend. All the fish is cooked to order and the value is exquisite. F&C with peas cost me £6.20 yesterday. The bloke in front of me got three sausage and chips with peas, three small fish and chips and it cost him £24.

[@IkarosWaltz]

The thing I remember most was back when they used actual dripping instead of vegetable oil when you had a drink the fat would cool in your mouth and coat your tongue in a layer of cooled fat, hardly anyone I know seems to remember this though.

[@chrislangley4029]

I love my fish and chips. Poppies is my favourite ‘go to’ when we are are in the England at our flat. A couple of funny named chippies are Jack the Chipper in London and The Codfather down in Ryde.

[@p57-elf]

The vinegar..In England sometimes it's difficult to get the proper F&C vinegar..It's unfermented and slightly sweet.. It has a incredible/different flavour and you can buy it on the High Street. It makes so much difference to the flavour!!!

[@upyerkilt6042]

The haddock from the North Sea served in a newspaper is the best thing in the entire entire world. Having lived all along the west coast of the United States, Nothing compares to it.

[@crossleydd42]

The Agrarian Revolution and Industrial Revolution were roughly from 1780 to 1830. It was improvements in agriculture and farming methods that enabled the 50% of the population who went from countryside to towns to work in factories, yet still be fed. It was said that Queen Elizabeth I would have recognised much of England of the 1780s and Queen Elizabeth II much of 1830s.

[@leosearle]

I was fortunate to grow up with fish & chips cooked in animal fat and wrapped in newspaper. The addition of layer of greaseproof paper (posted in another comment) was an intermediary step towards bureaucratic sanitation that was introduced prior to the total ban on using newspapers. Today's chippies that use vegetable oil produce chips that have only a fraction of the flavour of chips cooked in animal fat. Chips cooked in animal fat can still be found in some midland and northern cities such as Bradford. Americans visiting England would do well to travel north to taste the true British fish & chips experience that we all enjoyed back in the day. And if you can, find a chippy that cooks fresh-caught fish - there's a whole generation growing up that has no idea how delicious is the taste of fresh fish. Btw: In an ironic twist of fate, there is a body of research that suggests that heating vegetable oils to the high temperatures used in chippies makes them toxic. And re-heating vegetable oil makes it even more toxic. So it could be that cooking in animal fat produces not only a terrific flavour but could also be safer. Studies suggest that the British population was far, far healthier during WW2 than we are today. The result possible of eating real fish & chips? 😂

[@53Zander]

we used to have a van going round selling fish and chips, we used to follow around for the scrumps(left over batter at the end of round, great days)

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Ah that sounds AMAZING! I loveeee that part of the batter.

[@alisonrodger3360]

We still have one, comes round every Saturday lunchtime which, fortunately, is a bit too early for me because their half-pizza supper is amazing.

[@t.a.k.palfrey3882]

I believe the largest, and some would say the most plush, fish and chip restaurant and shop in England used to be in Guisely in Yorkshire. A trip to Harry Ramsden's on the moors outside Leeds was seen a fitting lunchtime break or end of trip high tea as part of a bus tour of the Yorkshire Moors. The grand eatery held 250 diners, and sold over a million portions a year. It opened in 1928, but closed in 2011.

[@jonathanfinan722]

Nowhere near the moors

[@t.a.k.palfrey3882]

@@jonathanfinan722 Why then is there an area called Guiseley Moor and a nearby small town called Moorside? I remember having a post-walk pint at a pub called The Quarry at a village named Moor Top when I lived in the region in the early 1970s.

[@Jinty92]

As a Scot, we don't say fish and chips. It's a fish supper, a sausage supper, a haggis supper, etc. I never knew it was Jews who brought it as I assumed it was Italians. Italians had loads of Chippy's. My local Chippy during the 70's and 80's was owned and run by Italians and was amazing. Half the Italians ran the Chippy's and the other half ran Ice Cream Shops. I love Scottish Dairy Ice Cream but Italian Ice Cream is hands down the best out there.

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Really interesting, thanks for sharing!

[@richt71]

My gran from Newcastle would also say fish supper.

[@neilmorrison7356]

@@GirlGoneLondonofficialwe know you love a pizza crunch 😂😂🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🦄🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🦄

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Oh I loveeee it @neilmorrison7356!!!! It's my favorite thing ever!

[@jonathanfaull1880]

Same in N.I.

[@davebarker9144]

Chips were sold wrapped in a greaseproof paper followed by a few layers of paper which looked like newspaper that hadn't been printed on followed by layers of newspaper for insulation. Most chippies these days don't double fry the potatoes which made them less soggy than today. I wish I could get chips fried in beef dripping but I haven't found any since the 80s when "Greasy Joe's" (not its official name) changed hands

[@BrandonLeeBrown]

It's not that the ink was so bad, but newspapers were printed with hard lead and the lead would get into the ink and paper. France used to sell fries in newspaper too.

[@22aiden22]

when i was a kid we used to get a free bag of batter with some chips thrown in, in exchange for old clean newspapers

[@carolineskipper6976]

Great deep dive again! One thing you might have added is that back in the day quite a few people kept up the Christian tradition of not eating meat on Fridays, and as fish didn't count as meat, this meant that fish'n'chips was a good option for a Friday - and then it just bcame a habit to start your weekend with a fish'n'chip supper on a Friday night. I remember a potato shortage in the 1970's, and the cost of a portion of chips at my local chippie went from 15p to 18p. Needless to say, when the crisis was over, the price never went back down! My 'correct' way to eat fish and chips is: salt and vinegar, and lashings of tartare sauce. Obviously this is subjective and not meant to be controversial!

[@orwellboy1958]

Just how I like mine.

[@tonys1636]

No salt for me, my GP banned it years ago, has to be real vinegar, non brewed condiment a no no, the pickled onion vinegar is great and a splash of a squeezed lemon when available.

[@razor1uk610]

Myself, I like to sprinkle a unhealthy drizzle of Taiwanese light soy sauce over, shop vinegared F&C or BS+Svy&C, so that by when I get home the vinegar has had time to soak into and partially steams through the chips of the batch. With some intermixing of a strong Smokey BBQ Sauce (3/10ths), a Wholegrain Seeded Mustard (5/10ths), and English Mustard (2/10ths) to dip into.

[@carolineskipper6976]

@@razor1uk610 Radical!

[@Phiyedough]

At school they used to sometimes serve deep fried fish and they sometimes served chips but never both together. I assumed they only had one fryer. Usually fish came with mashed potato and peas.

[@woodentie8815]

Favourite school dinner of the week, usually Friday, with apple/rhubarb crumble and custard to follow, lovely😋

[@jandewet8697]

Also popular in South Africa

[@roy-wg7dz]

My local in Telford is called The Codfather

[@woodentie8815]

Alf Tupper used to get his fish and chips wrapped up in the sports pages so he could have a good read while eating his supper!😁

[@antonycarter39]

Thank you for the enjoyable video.

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Glad you enjoyed, thank you for watching and have a great weekend!

[@scottmasson3336]

Haddock is the most popular in Scotland. 'Rock' is a dogfish type of shark.

[@JOHNSMITH-if9jr]

in oz its flake shark

[@chrisbree3467]

I remember the one in London opening, we used to stand outside when we were kids in our clogs and mum & dad were in the pub & we used to shovel up the horse manure and sell it to buy the fish and chips, they were wrapped in old coal sacking. Those were the days. If you told that to the kids today, they wouldn’t believe you.

[@martinalloway6980]

I remember newspaper wrapped fish and chips but the food was wrapped in food hygiene paper and then in newspaper, this is going back to the 70’s.

[@williamronneywilliams2639]

Yes miss newspaper wrap though they were wrapped in white paper then newspaper,I love them with curry sauce mushy peas and lashings of salt and vinegar.

[@fasteddie406]

Biggest change to Fish n Chips in the 80s was not the charge in wrapping but that Tax was put on.

[@Poliss95]

@fasteddie406 VAT is only charged if you eat them inside the establishment. That's why you'll see two prices, 'Eat in or takeaway'.

[@rgoonewardene380]

My mum has lived where she is for over 30 years, and in this time all the chip shops around her have closed, the last one, which became a Chinese/Fish & Chips place, stopped serving Fish & Chips about 14 months ago 😢. I’ve only seen the fake newspaper once, at a really posh hotel in London, about 15 years ago.

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Oh no!! No fish and chips shop in her area? That's insane! I wonder why they closed. :(

[@terencesaunders1357]

When I was younger we used to go to the local chippy and ask for a bag of scraps. Which were free. Then put the salt and vinegar on.

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

That sounds amazing - I would love to just have that instead of the full meal.

[@NataliePine]

They're technically not allowed to do it anymore, because the scraps are carcinogenic. Worth it though! Sometimes if you catch them at the right time (just before they change the oil) and no one else is in the chippy, you can ask quietly and they'll shovel some on top of your chips

[@Michael_Brock]

Good content as usual. BTW since ow-tube removed the channel tab, was good for showing sister or friends channels. I would either post a link to new sister channel in the description or a pinned comment (same) in every video. ❤

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Oh thanks for that feedback Michael, didn't know that about them removing the channel tab. I'll definitely update the description to include it each time!

[@alisonrodger3360]

One main difference I've noticed is that in Scotland everything is cooked in the fryer, pizza/haggis/pies etc whereas down south they seem to cook them separately.

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Interesting!!

[@missharry5727]

Growing up in West Yorkshire in the 50s and 60s, I was used to fish and chips from my local chippy on Friday evening. The only fish on offer was haddock, and scraps were free on top. Did anyone else have cakes? A cake was a few scraps of fish too small to sell separately, sandwiched between two large slices of potato, then battered and fried. One special treat after a day out was always to stop at Harry Ramsden's in Guiseley. There you could have a sit-down meal with a choice of fish, including cod, plaice and rock salmon as well as haddock. It was compulsory when we were coming home on a parish trip to stop there. Fond memories.

[@woodentie8815]

Did like those fish cakes you mention - fish between slices of potato - very tasty!

[@22aiden22]

We still get these from my local chippy (Newburn chip shop) in Newcastle upon Tyne, wonderful place owned by the same family for 4 generations, they still use solid fat, this is a bit more greasy, but wow real brown chips, not the pale awful ones, and the taste is well worth the extra few calories yum

[@woodentie8815]

Not forgetting the alternatives to fish with chips, Holland’s meat pies and puddings, smothered in gravy - delicious!😋

[@woodentie8815]

…..nor forgetting the potato scallop!!

[@michaelmackay5540]

In Canada the premium fish used is Halibut. I thought it would also be used in Britain.

[@andycooke6231]

In WW2 one of my wife relations ran a fish and chips shop but could only open a few days a week because they could not get enough dripping to fry the fish and chips.

[@naomiwest7556]

Our chip shops here are called, Chish & Fipps, The Hungry Haddock & Phils Plaice

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Great names!!

[@d.robertdigman1293]

One local fish and chip shop in Melbourne Australia is called Hunky Dory. I hope Nemo is okay with the connotations...

[@jillosler9353]

The food was NEVER put directly onto newspaper; a clean white sheet of greaseproof paper was wrapped around the food and then to keep it hot until you'd walked home to eat them they were insulated in layers of newspaper. Fun fact: I still eat my fish and chips with my fingers and never use a knife or fork - but I don't eat mushy peas!

[@geoffclarke8934]

Great video Kaylyn and very appropriate as Ive just finished eating fish and chips from my local shop. Saturday is my one day of eating something tasty but not super healthy so may be fish chips, pizza, chinese or indian. Dont like mushy peas though.

[@Bobrogers99]

Growing up in an Irish Catholic neighborhood in the US, Friday was a big day for fish. You could smell fish frying in every household.

[@brianwhittington5086]

The hygiene issue wasn't so much to do with ink as it was an outer wrapping that didn't touch the food. Some chippy's still use outer wrappers that are printed to look like a newspaper. It was that chippy's would often take in clean newspapers read and kept by customers, and not knowing the conditions of how they'd been stored. Newspaper was a good insulator that kept them hot if you had a long walk home. Fish and chips cooked in modern vegetable oils don't have that same authentic taste of traditional cooked ones from my childhood days.

[@johnfinley485]

Newspaper inks used today are much cheaper than they used to be Back in the 50s the ink would not come off on your hands so newspaper was popular for insulation (and sometimes in the loo)

[@Poliss95]

@johnfinley485 As someone who's early childhood was in the 50s I can verify that they ink certainly DID come off on your hands and your bum!

[@matt7997]

Most vinegar used in fish and chip shops isn't actually vinegar! See Tom Scott's video on this for an explanation.

[@pipercharms7374]

Wow Scotland! Must have been a very very busy day!

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Absolutely! I'm tired just thinking about it!

[@grabtharshammer]

Your description of the Batter used on the Fish, was just a basic commercial batter recipe. In the last century, before the industrialisation of the Chip Shop. Each Fish and Chip shop would have its own closely guarded secret recipe for the Batter, made on site by the owners. In a town with several Chip Shops, your Batter could make or break the business. (also depended somewhat on type of fats used for frying too). Plaice used to be more popular than Haddock as a second choice fish, until the Fishing Industry changed and became big business, Plaice was not so common and became expensive. Fish & Chips becoming so popular is what brought in big business and basically killed off a lot of old Fish & Chip shops. My Father grew up in a Yorkshire F&C shop in the 1920 /1930's. Sadly his father died and his mother was widowed with two children, he was ten years old. The shop was sold, he never learned the secret recipe and it was probably lost forever.

[@lucyrakauskas]

When I lived in Newcastle we enjoyed cheesy chips and gravy on the way home from a night out.

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Mmm, sounds amazing!

[@plonchyvideos7456]

I have mine with onion vinegar, which my wife got me to start using. Problem is, ive never found onion vinegar for sale in the shops, only in chip shops. Ive no idea why.

[@veneration1]

You should do a video on Cornish pasties, originally made with the crinkled edge so miners could grip them without getting dirt on the actual meat. Do you get pasties in the US ?

[@PaulFisher-uj9vb]

Not Ginster’s though. Btw I live in Callington, Cornwall and can smell Ginster’s from here.

[@AB-ku4my]

@@PaulFisher-uj9vb Get thee to Ivor Dewdney's in Plymth(sic).

[@PaulFisher-uj9vb]

My favourite pasty maker is “Over The Top Pasties” at Calstock, proper ansum.

[@jamesbeeching6138]

I love "Rock" but it is mainly a London fish..It is actually Dogfish which is a small shark! Another big change in the 80s was the addition of VAT [Sales tax] onto fish and chips!😢😢😢😢😢

[@PedroConejo1939]

I was always told that fishermen and northerners prefer haddock because it doesn't have the parasitic worm that can be found in cod. No idea how true this is.

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

That's interesting! I hadn't heard that but...sounds like it could be true (based on me having 0 knowledge whatsoever...I'd believe it!) ;)

[@PedroConejo1939]

@@GirlGoneLondonofficial I should perhaps point out that all cod is now thoroughly inspected.

[@williebauld1007]

In Dundee my local chippy still wrapped it up in newspaper, it tasted better for it

[@lottie2525]

Pysgod a sglodion, my fave Welsh phrase meaning fish and chips of course.

[@danielthompson5251]

I'm glad you're still posting videos, I'm slowly catching up. It's hard to get haddock here where I live in America. Catfish is the thing here, and I don't like it. I'm nowhere near the coast. The chips look like what we call steak fries here. But no matter what you call it, I'll eat it.

[@missharry5727]

I got haddock on my last trip to the USA, in a so-called Irish pub in Cape May. The fish and chips weren't bad, even if the peas weren't mushy, but the imitation Guinness was disappointing.

[@maryhildreth754]

I have a video request please. I ran across "if you can't pay they'll take it away" on KZbin. I'm from Alabama and I'm absolutely amazed at these high court baliffs just walking into people's homes and taking random things to pay for a totally different debt. Maybe do a video on the differences in how they do collections here and in the UK.

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Great suggestion! I've noted it down to do some research on!

[@PatriciaTowill]

hallo gone girl;really liked your fulsome tea talk;do like builders tea myself.also the fish and chip talk great too.remember the newspaper days as a kid.thanks again.wlg.

[@RonTodd-gb1eo]

My parents told me that during the war they would get battered fish which was a lot of batter and little fish, or a fishcake that was mostly potato.

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Interesting to hear straight from the source on what it was like!

[@barneylaurance1865]

I don't think I've ever seen real newspaper wrapped around fish and chips in any way in London. (Or more specifically chips, since I don't eat fish). It's generally either just plain white paper, or a cardboard box. Paper is better, especially if it's made into a cone for eating on the go. Or occasionally places have factory made glossy cardboard cones, and those sometimes have newspaper style printing on them.

[@RonTodd-gb1eo]

Not used real newspaper for a long time.

[@upyerkilt6042]

Just a handful of my favorite foods over in the UK. All of their seafood, the lager can’t be beat, mushy peas and living in America you cannot replicate their sausage rolls ever, I don’t care what recipe you have. It’s the best. All of their bakery and bread, whether super inexpensive or top notch is far superior than the US. Whether you are in England, Wales or Scotland their full breakfast is better than anything in America or Europe.

[@clivewilliams3661]

When I was a kid we had fish and chips wrapped in newspaper and a combination of the vinegar and solvent ink honestly added flavour. Many people of the changeover period to the more hygienic standard think it was a retrograde step in taste. About once a week I used to weasel a 'tanner' (6d-old pence i.e 2 1/2p) out of my parents to go to the chip shop to get a bag of chips and 'scraps'- the fried batter bits off the fish that were scooped out of the oil Modern newspaper is no good for wrapping because the ink is water based and tastes horrid. The best fish and chips are cooked in our local East Mids village. Apart from superb taste with crispy chips the portion size is huge and generally the fish, especially haddock overhangs both sides of the largest dinner plate with the pile of chips filling the rest. Any mushy pees (marrowfat peas) or baked beans have to be scooped onto the chips as there is invariably no room. I've had fish and chips in London and North-West and nothing comes close and they are generally pathetic imitations.

[@raycornford283]

One of my favourite chippy names - "A Plaice for Huss" (Rock)

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Haha! Love that one

[@neilgayleard3842]

Jack the chipper in London.

[@cookielady7662]

Looks just like Long John Silver's fish and fries. So sorry if I offended. Not my intention. It just does and actually LJS is very good. We have places in the US other than fast food chains who make them too. I just had some a few days ago that were actually from a food truck. I like to eat mine with malt vinegar. Sit down restaurants also sometimes sell them. Good informative video. Thank you.

[@lawrencegt2229]

I was just listening to the news this morning (Radio4, Today) about the latest toad and newt patrols in the UK h I wondered how the US manages their toad road patrols - are they professionals or all volunteers like the UK. Worth a comparison video?

[@GirlGoneLondonofficial]

Great idea, thank you!

[@John-ue4mk]

I remember getting a tanner worth of chips, wrapped in newspaper in London Camden town in the 60s instead of school dinner, so I could get some cigarettes which was probably just as healthy but tasted a lot better

[@MarkmanOTW]

The best way for me is to eat them sat on the beach at the seaside, eating them out of the paper with your fingers. The sensation of tearing open the hot fish with your hand, then licking the salt and vinegar of your fingers as you pop in another few chips. Lovely! Can taste OK inside on a plate with knife and fork, but not as good as using your hands dipping the fish/chips into mushy peas, curry sauce, tartare sauce as you breath in the sea air.

[@AB-ku4my]

"as you breath in the sea air." And thrash at the gulls with anything to hand. All part of the fun.

[@MarkmanOTW]

@@AB-ku4my Yeah! Very important to be watchful and select where you eat them. In some places gulls can be a nightmare. 👍😄

[@dukestt5436]

The paper used to wrap the food is still newspaper, it just doesnt have print on it

[@timcowell2626]

Chippy tea!