Schnappers - The Benefits of Fish and Chips!

Fish and Chips - where did this famous culinary delight originate?

The simple answer is that no one really knows. We do know that fish and chips developed separately - the Belgians invented chips or "chipped pommes de terre ? la mode" (from the humble potato commonly believed to have been brought to Spain from South America via Ireland by Sir Walter Raleigh in the 17th Century). Australia has adopted Britain's beloved fish and chip meal and adapted it as its own.

La pomme de terre was first introduced to Europe in 1534. In 1563 it was introduced to England by John Hawkins, but it's cultivation was neglected. It was reintroduced into England in 1586 by Sir Francis Drake and by Sir Walter Raleigh to Ireland in the same year. It was not introduced to France until 1593. It came of age in 1619, when it was first served at the royal table in England. The English introduced it to Flanders during the wars against Louis XIV(16th and 17th Centuries).

Potatoes are an energy food with 100 calories per 100 grams, they are rich in carbohydrates, have few mineral salts, contain vitamins B and C and a very small amount of iodine. The starch is the most assimilable of all, and for this reason it can be included in the diet of diabetics where it is considered a highly desirable food. There are only traces of fats and calcium.

	Weight for weight, the potato contains two and a half times less carbohydrate than bread.
	Frying the potato is the most efficient way of preserving the mineral content.

Fish and chips are a valuable source of protein, fibre, iron and vitamins, providing a third of the recommended daily allowance of vitamins for men and about half for women. Comparing fish and chips with other take-away foods provides a few surprises in the nutritional stakes:

	Apart from fish and chips being a delicious tasty dish, fish is very healthy being high in B vitamins and protein.
	Add potatoes (chips) to it and you've got yourself a nutritious,and relatively balanced meal.
	Eating thick cut chips is much healthier than thin fries because they soak up less fat. Typically, thin fries contain around 15% fat compared to 7% in thick cut chips

Fishy Facts

	The record for the most portions of fish and chips sold by an independent fish and chip shop in one day is over 4,000!
	Did you know that fish and chips were the only take-away food not to be rationed during the Second World War in UK. Frederick Lord Woolton, Minister of Food at the time, even allowed mobile frying vans to carry fish and chips to evacuees around the country!
	Warren Mitchell, alias Alf Garnett, tells us that his grandmother often told him,"When business is good, people eat fish and chips. When business is bad, people eat fish and chips. Start a fish and chip shop and you'll never go hungry."
	In 1838 Charles Dickens wrote about fried fish warehouses in his novel 'Oliver Twist'. These warehouses were the forerunner to fish and chip shops - but the partner to the fish wasn't the traditional chip as we see today, but we can thank the French for developing our "french fries". The fish was sold by street vendors who carried the goods in trays hung around their necks. The fish was purchased cold for about a penny a portion.

The ecstasy of consumption, in all its many forms and guises, can be captured in one singular, all encompassing experience. I'm not talking about the delicate white wine sauces of Northern France, or the truffles and sweet delights of Belgium. I refer to the innumerable pleasures of the tens of thousands here in Australia, who participate in the ritual of that most Australian tradition, the Saturday night Fish and Chip Dinner. There are but a few culinary offerings which transgress both class and wealth - and fish and chips is certainly one. It is noted that Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II is partial to a regular serving of Dover Sole, fresh from the shores of Ireland. One can be fairly sure, however, that this would be presented, not with roughly cut chips, but more likely with saute potatoes or perhaps even fresh garden peas.