The competition for the Fish & Chip Shop of the Year run by Seafish is beginning to heat up and that means we will all soon be landing a large catch of stories about the benefits of going to the chippy.
I liked this piece of research about the regional differences in the way that people eat their fish and chips. According to the survey, Scots are more likely than any other part of the UK to trough their takeaway straight from the wrapper while, surprise, Londoners are more likely to prefer to use a plate.
Sixty percent of Scots surveyed said they’d far rather tuck in to a bag of fish and chips with their fingers than eat it with a fork and knife. The rest of the UK said they’d rather eat their chippy from a plate with a six-out-of-10 stating they prefer to use cutlery.
The survey found Londoners were most likely to be too posh to pick from the bag with 72% stating they would rather eat their fish and chips from a plate. They were closely followed by fish and chip fans in the South East (68%) and the Midlands (67%) who would also rather use a knife and fork.
Naturally, salt and vinegar is the nation’s favourite accompaniment to fish and chips with 51% of the sample surveyed opting for the traditional seasonings. Tomato ketchup is preferred by a freakish 15% of the population. No mention was made of Edinburgh’s preference for salt ‘n’ sauce.
Consumers’ least favourite side portions were gherkins, gravy and pickled onions, which, thakfully, each polled just 1% of the vote.