Pescado Frito and Pommes Frites: Britain’s National Dish

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Photo Credit: Andrew Dunn

Remember that American spectacle of culinary nationalism that was “freedom fries” back in 2003? British Professor of European History, Panikos Panayi, faced a comparable public furor in the U.K. while researching his book Spicing Up Britain: A Multicultural History of British Food (Reaktion Books, 2008).

His crime? He had the audacity to suggest that fish and chips — widely considered Britain’s national dish — has Jewish and French origins.

The story made headlines in papers as prestigious as the Financial Times (“Kosher French Connection with Fish and Chips”) to that British equivalent of USA Today, the Daily Star, (“Le Great British Feesh and Cheeps: It’s Frog Nosh Claims Prof”).

Panayi’s presumed anti-British sentiment even got his name blacklisted on a Neo-Nazi website under the heading “Know Your Enemy.”

The way the nation reacted, you’d think Panayi peed on the Union Jack in front of the Queen.

The irony of this ordeal is that Panayi’s book isn’t really about fish and chips. Spicing Up Britain is about how immigration has changed the face of British cuisine. In it, the author makes the point that national cuisines don’t actually exist because just about every food comes from someplace else.

To illustrate, let’s look at the greasy pub fare that spawned the controversy: fish and chips.

Fried Fish

The Sephardic Jews brought fried battered fish (pescado frito) to the U.K. from Spain and Portugal. Fish has well-known biblical significance, but the fried form also has practical value as a religious food. When fish is battered and fried, it’s good served cold for those who observe the ritual of not cooking on the Sabbath.

An article in the Israeli daily, Haaretz, reports that the batter originally served as insulation to protect the fish “from the cruel heat of the oil, so that it would become juicy and soft, with a crisp outer coating, full of flavor and aroma.” The battered shell used to be peeled off and thrown away until people started eating it along with the fish.

Chips

The U.S. has a habit of associating fried potatoes with the French, ever since Thomas Jefferson referred to them as “potatoes, fried in the French manner.” But “frenching” is a just method of frying foods twice to maximize crispness.

Many countries claim to have invented them, including Spain and Belgium, so the exact origins aren’t definite. What we do know is potatoes didn’t even arrive in Europe until they were brought over as a New World crop in the 17th century. And though chips might not be strictly French in origin, the French version of fried taters (pommes frites) predated the British chip.

“Fish and Chips”

Fried fish never took off until it was married with fried potatoes. Since fish and chips were also some of the few foods not rationed in wartime England, it rapidly became a staple of British cuisine. It wasn’t until after 1945 (post-WWII) that the Brits began considering fish and chips their national dish.

– Christina Lee

Craving fish and chips? Look up local restaurants that serve fish and chips in our restaurant finder.

Tags: British cuisine, culinary nationalism, fish and chips, food history, globalization, Gut Check, pescado frito, pommes frites, potatoes, thomas jefferson