The story of Britain's fish and chips obsession.
'Gray is a master of observing and amplifying the things we love.' The Times
A richly entertaining celebration of Britain's national dish and its delightful neon houses.
The perfume of every town and city in Britain is tangy with vinegar and thick with grease. It is almost impossible not to follow this vapour trail, a mesmeric blend that transports us to a joyous elsewhere, in a nostalgic rush of mums and dads across the land declaring 'Chippy tea!'
In this lively and relatable book, acclaimed author Daniel Gray ponders the magic of chippies and rejoices in the delight they have sprinkled among us over the last 150 years. He also investigates the social - and sociable - history of fish and chips, revealing the shared truths that bind us to this edible institution and its charismatic outlets.
By travelling to the most celebrated chippies across Britain and Ireland, he will show how many of the themes that shape our country are drizzled in vinegar. Chippies have emancipated working class women, brought equality for immigrants, stemmed revolution, helped us win wars and amplified regional and class differences. All while fuelling generations of workers.
Gray's journey - from Dundee to Dublin via South Shields, Oldham, Bradford, Bethnal Green, Hemel Hempstead and elsewhere - gets under the skin of today's fish and chip nation to answer some of the pressing questions...
Why don't chippies not offer scraps north of the border between England and Scotland? What does the schism between frying in dripping or oil say about differences between northerners and southerners? Do fish and chips taste better when eaten in the open air? Is gravy on fish ever acceptable? What place curry sauce?
A mouth-watering book that is as much about who we are as it is the food we eat.
About the Author: Daniel Gray was born in Stockton-on-Tees in 1981, thereby cursed to support Middlesbrough FC. He now lives in Edinburgh with his wife and daughter. For a decade he combined writing with working various jobs in libraries, politics and television, but have been a freelance, full-time writer and presenter since 2015. He's published a host of critically acclaimed books on football and Scottish history.
