FISH & CHIPS Feature

from Restaurant & Café Magazine | March 2022

PLANT BASED

FISH & FRIES - A Kiwi Favourite

Fish and chips remain a firm Kiwi favourite, despite competition from an array of food choices consumers now have at their fingertips.

Perhaps it is the simplicity of the dish, and its early ties to the ‘every-man’ that is responsible for its universal appeal.

Fish ‘n’ chips have moved far beyond the traditional “greasies”, wrapped up in newsprint. A new wave of shops have gone upmarket, offering a wide variety of fish species cooked to order, often attractively served in boxes with condiments.

We are incredibly lucky to have access to some of the best kai moana in the world and New Zealand’s seafood industry plays a key role in the country’s economy, employing more than 13,000 people who provide New Zealand and the world with high quality, nutritious and great tasting seafood.

Fish and chips is the perfect dish to show off locally sourced ingredients on your menu.

Take your fish and chips to the next level with Aotearoa’s favourite species all in one place

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A LITTLE HISTORY ON A HUMBLE DISH

Here in New Zealand, it is our colonial history that saw fish and chips arrive on our shores.

Some credit the ultimate origins of fish and chips to a melding of cooking traditions brought to England by refugees: frying fish in batter, brought over by Jewish immigrants fleeing from Spain and Portugal, and frying chipped potatoes in fat, brought over by Huguenot refugees from France. Both items, fried battered fish and fried potatoes, were sold separately in the streets of London.

The combined dish emerged during the industrialisation of Britain. The first Fish and Chip shop appeared around the early to mid 1860s. By the 1900s, fish and chip shops were becoming common in urban areas of any size in England and Scotland and by 1910, there were about 25,000 fish and chip shops in the UK, mostly run by families, which provided lunches and early evening meals to working class people.

Food historians have not been able to pinpoint exactly when the meal became an established part of New Zealand cuisine but all recognise it came to New Zealand with British settlers in the 19th century.