Fish & Chips

Properly Done

Tough judgement call. Sometimes circumstances call for hard choices. We can sympathize with news journalists who have to decide which story of the day to lead with. Should today's blog lead-in be about historic Craigmiller Castle (best preserved medieval castle in the UK), the multiple bus rides (confusion about where to get on), the tourist crowds in Old Town Edinburgh (elbowing your way along the sidewalks), the mysterious disappearance of the iconic Haggis Box (phone booth sized haggis food stand), or the fish & chips lunch? Let's lead with the lunch.

Although we have been in Scotland for over a month now, and we have endeavored to experience and blog about many things Scottish, it was not until today that we stopped for a proper fish and chips. Not sure what convoluted priority scheme caused that to happen. Regardless, the fish and chips were delicious. The battered haddock was lite and fluffy, just like a little brown cloud. Really, the batter and fish where as lite as can be, no oily or heavy taste. And the chips were likewise.

Food historians say that a Jewish cook, a young Ashkenezi immigrant named Joseph Malin, opened the first chippy in 1860 in London. So engrained in English culinary culture are fish and chips that they were one of the few foods never rationed during World War II. The government believed that safeguarding this comfort meal during a time of distress would keep morale up.