Chips.....few people can resist the smell of hot chips sprinkled with salt and vinegar, a comfort food for me and always evokes a memory. Mary Janes fish and chip shop in Cromer holds many fond memories. Norfolk has become a second home for us over the past 25 years and many a lunch has been eaten by my children, their friends, us as a family and of course some of my special friends have all enjoyed a slap up meal here. Of course no seaside holiday would be the same without chips, best way to eat them is straight out of the paper sitting on the prom or better still on the beach. mmmmmmmm
A few facts about fish and chips
During World War II, ministers bent over backwards to make sure fish and chips were one of the few foods that were never rationed.
The potato is thought to have been brought to England from the New World in the 17th century by Sir Walter Raleigh although it is believed that the French invented the fried potato chip.
Both Lancashire and London stake a claim to being the first to invent this famous meal - chips were a cheap, staple food of the industrial north whilst fried fish was introduced in London’s East End. In 1839 Charles Dickens referred to a “fried fish warehouse” in his novel, 'Oliver Twist'. The populace soon decided that putting fried fish and chips together was a very tasty combination and so was born our national dish of fish and chips!
Fish and chips became so essential to the diet of the ordinary man and woman that one shop in Bradford had to employ a doorman to control the queue at busy times during 1933.
You may wonder why I am nattering on about chips? Well last week was a bit of a flat one for me. My work seems to be going no where right now, which is very frustrating, and Thursday was the 3rd anniversary of our house fire. And even now the trauma and flashbacks disturb me on a daily basis. Thursday was no exception. I found myself feeling sorry for myself and lonely....But a surprise knock on the back door lifted my mood completely.
Two of my lovely friends....you know who you are....had dropped by to share a cuppa, and had brought with them bags of chips.....how nice it as to sip tea, chat and eat, yes out of the paper and with our fingers, lovely hot chips. It certainly made for smiles all round :)
I found this quote and and it made me smile too....
“If the soup had been as warm as the wine, and the wine as old as the fish, and the fish as young as the maid, and the maid as willing as the hostess, it would have been a very good meal.”
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