tarasgrescoe.com

About Bottomfeeder | Excerpt | Op-Eds and Articles | What the Critics are Saying | How to Eat Ethically
About the Author | Notebook and Tour | Recipes | Home

Though cod is still the most popular fish in British “chippies” (fish and chip shops), North Atlantic stocks are being fished to the brink of commercial extinction, and much of the cod that comes from the Barents Sea is thought to be caught by pirate ships fishing outside of quotas. As a sustainable alternative, use haddock (ask for line-caught, not trawled), a sweet-fleshed fish that is prefered in northern England and Scotland.

Deep Fried Haddock

Fish and chips is one of Britain's favourite take-aways, often accompanied with mushy peas or curry sauce. This is a simple recipe to fry the fish at home.

Ingredients

Serves: 4

Deep fat or oil, for frying
8 haddock fillets
4 ounces self-raising flour
1/4 teaspoons salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon Butter, melted
2/3 cup milk
Lemon wedges, to garnish

Method

Half-fill a deep pan with melted fat or oil. Heat until a faint haze rises from it (or until a bread cube sinks to the bottom of the pan, rises to the top immediately and turns golden in 50 seconds).

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Beat to a smooth batter with unbeaten egg, butter and milk. Coat 2 pieces of fish with batter. Lift into the pan with a fork or kitchen tongs. Fry until crisp and golden, allowing about 6-8 minutes for large pieces and 4-5 minutes for medium.

Remove from the pan and drain on absorbent kitchen paper. Repeat with the remaining fish. Garnish with lemon wedges.

—reproduced with the permission of the British Food Trust, www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk