Although it is an island country, before the18th century, it was difficult for English people in non-coastal areas to eat fresh fish.
However, the steam train born in the 19 century changed everything, and the speed made the price of fish cheaper; Jews who immigrated from southern Europe also brought fish and chips. Fish and chips have become the most popular cheap food for the working class.
/kloc-In the 20th century, eating fried fish became common in London and southeast England (Charles Dickens mentioned the "fried fish warehouse" in Oliver Twist). At the same time, in northern England, the industry of frying "sliced" potatoes has also developed. I don't know when and where these two projects merged into the fish and chips shop industry as we know it today. Maybe Joseph Marin opened the first fish and chips shop in London on 1860. English people like to eat potatoes. They often regard potatoes as the staple food of a meal, even more important than bread. Unlike China, there are only one or two kinds of potatoes in Britain. There are at least ten kinds of potatoes here, big and small, black, yellow and white, but they are all very cheap. In Britain, there are many ways to eat potatoes, some of which are quite distinctive.
During World War II, Britain was short of materials, and almost all food was rationed by the government. However, because Britain produces potatoes, it can fish in relatively safe waters, and fish and chips are not included in the restricted list. During World War II, the demand for fish and chips in Britain increased by 30% compared with that before the war, which was a life-saving dish in Britain. On the famous D-Day of World War II, British soldiers used the word "fish" to "chip" as a code word for mutual recognition-of course, this code word was quickly deciphered by the Germans. The demand for cod in Britain has been increasing since the 1960s. At that time, the cod producing areas in Europe were mainly concentrated in Icelandic waters. 1944 after Iceland's independence, the territorial sea has been continuously expanded several times to protect fish resources. This was resisted by Britain, and the navies of the two countries repeatedly shelled each other for this reason, which opened a battle for more than 20 years. British allies keep advising Britain to change its consumption habits and eat other fish, but the British insist that they only want to eat orthodox cod. It was not until 1976 that Britain gave up under the mediation of NATO.
20 12, a "what do you think best represents Britain?" Fish and chips beat the Beatles, afternoon tea, Shakespeare, Buckingham Palace and the Queen of England and became the highest symbol in the eyes of the British. Nowadays, British people consume more than 250 million servings of fish and chips every year.
From 1988 National Fish and Chips Award (National Fish and Chips Award; Chip Award) is selected once a year.