Fish and Chips: A History

Short and terrific read about the history and cultural of 'fish and chips.' Detailed, accessible and fun. Lot's of good footnotes. (Who knew there used to be something called, "The Fish Fryer's Gazette.")

This is another title from a lively publisher, a title that sounds like a joke but it's not. Fish and chips does indeed have a history. As an American, it is something I had always associated with the Brits, but never knew much about--chips to Americans refers to potato chips. This is a well-illustrated book, and yes, there are interesting photographs, more than a shot of a menu. The writing is good.Panayi finds the origin in London in the early 1800s--in of all things, Jewish cookery combining fish and potatoes. It became popular because it was filling and cheap. The heyday of fish and chips appears to be 1920 to 1980, with a gradual eclipse with the arrival of American fast-food chains such as KFC, and the proliferation of Indian and Chinese restaurants (also offering filling food at a good price). The thousands of mom and pop fish and chips places has greatly diminished, and there is a kind of nostalgic patriotism for that era.The book actually could be shorter, and might best be part of the "Edible" series, but it is good as is.

It's a very interesting history of fish & chips. And it's very detailed - in some chapters too detailed to be a good read and a good story. Often redundant, somewhat between scientific and popular books. I'd prefer it to choose between those two - either scientific or popular. The least should use more pictures (in text and photos), should be more lively. But it's worth reading.

good book and quick delivery of it , thanks