XIII Oceans

When it comes to fish and chips there’s a degree of conservatism running through my prejudices.  First of those is that you can only get good fish and chips from a place where these items take pride of place amongst whatever food stuffs a place will offer on its menu.  Such an attitude of basing mental convictions on superstition, not fact, has driven the human race for thousands of years with whole industries and belief systems benefitting from such poor logic.  With fish and chips, those who would normally like to challenge misplaced perception however, may feel that on this issue my point is truly valid. 

It isn’t anything other than knowledge secured from comprehensive expsure to the outlets that proclaim themselves to be a chip shop, whilst providing an international menu at the same time, usually Chinese food or one of the scourges of Daily-Mail-western-civilisation, kebab.  It’s not that these establishments can’t be trusted to deliver edible, even enjoyable food, of course they can.  What I am referring to is the sacredness of the traditional fish and chip shop, the doctrine that fish and chips are more than just another product to be sold.  The ideology that fish and chips have a heritage status in the United Kingdom and that each portion should be served with love and respect for over two hundred years of tradition.  Fish and chips are not just another item on the menu.  Fish and chips are one of our many gifts to the world and in the same way that American hamburgers should be bristling with meat and not the taste and thickness of coasters, fish and chips served from a chippy should reflect a pride in a meal that has served the British working class longer than the vote.

What follows in this blog is that search for good fish and chips shops!