Fish and Chips will be on the menu for Big daddy and Little Mummy

The fish in Australia is briliant, BBQ it .. fry, grill, roast, bake, steam, poach. You can even wrap it in tin foil and pop it on the radiator and it will cook as you drive. I kid you not. Then again, if it is a scorcher of a bloody day, pop the foil on the ground add splash of olive oil, salt and pepper .. voila in a few minutes your ready to add the lemon juice and eat!


Where did the idea for fish and chips come from?

There is nothing more British than fish and chips eaten with salt and vinegar, fish and chips is one of our Great British institutions.
So where did it come from? The simple answer is that no-one really knows, however a few theories apply.
We do know that fish and chips developed separately - the French invented chips or 'chipped pomes de terre a la mode' from the humble potato commonly believed to have been brought to Europe by Sir Walter Raleigh in the 17th Century. In 1839 Charles Dickens referred to a 'fried fish warehouse' in Oliver Twist. The great British fish and chip trade grew out of these existing small businesses which sold fish and chips separately in the streets and alleys of London and some of Britain's industrial towns, in the 1850s.
Both, Lancashire and London stake a claim to the origin of this most famous meal. Chips were the standard fare of the industrial north while fried fish was introduced in London's East End.
Fish and chips is thought to be the quintessential British meal, but new research claims the original idea for fish and chips came from Jewish and French dishes.
A study of the multicultural nature of UK cuisine suggests the meal was influenced by immigrants 150 years ago.
It is believed that fish and chips mixed "French frites with Jewish fish dishes".
Along with the history of fish and chips comes the colourful history of the fish and chip shop. The first fish and chip shop in the North of England is thought to have opened in Mossley near Oldham, Lancashire, around 1863. Mr Lees sold fish and chips from a wooden hut in the market and later he transferred the business to a permanent shop across the road which had the following inscription in the window "This is the first fish and chip shop in the world." But in London, Joseph Malin opened a fish and chip shop in Cleveland Street within the sound of Bow Bells 13 in 1860.
In the United Kingdom alone, there are now 8100 fish and chip shops which equates to eight for every one McDonalds outlet.

Degree of difficulty: Medium

You need:
Fish batter
Making a good batter is probably what most people find a challenge but
obtaining the right thickness and consistency is vital to protect your fish and
ensure its quality taste.
Ingredients:
1 medium sized firm flesh fish – Rockling or cod is great
100g plain flour
100g self raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
280ml milk or a dark beer
1 tbsp of oil
2 stiffly beaten egg whites
1 egg yolk
Water
Salt and vinegar to finish.

Method:
Sift the flours and a pinch of salt into a basin. Add the egg yolk and liquid and beat the mixture together until it’s smooth. Leave the batter to rest for 30 minutes. You can add a little cold sparkling water to your rested batter to give it a lighter finish.
Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites until they are light and fluffy. Fold them into
the rested batter mix and you are ready to go.
If you like, you can use beer in your batter instead of milk as it can give it a bit
more flavour as well as more bubbles for a lighter covering. Dark beers such
as Guinness work well.

Cooking the Fish:
Coat the fish lightly in seasoned flour. When ready, carefully hold the fish at the
tail end and dip it into the batter.
Cook in a deep fryer or a deep frying pan generously filled with oil. You know when your oil is hot enough because it will start to spit.

The perfect batter – plain flour and self-raising flour
The combination of flours is good for batter. The self-raising flour contains
raising agents, mostly bicarbonate of soda and tartaric acid, which start to
produce little bubbles of carbon dioxide gas, once some liquid is added. The
bubbles keep the batter light and fluffy. But you also want the batter to be able to
hold together and keep the fish wrapped up. That’s where the plain flour comes
in. It has a high proportion of protein, in addition to the starch. The proteins
interact to form gluten - long, tangled strands of molecules which effectively
glue your batter together so it nicely wraps around the fish.

Serving Suggestion: Serve with a side of chips or salad...