Featured Image Credit: Jonathan Knowles via Getty Images
Topics: UK Food
Rachael Davis
British cuisine is often – incorrectly – maligned by our contemporaries overseas, but there’s no greater display of ignorance than claiming that fish and chips are anything other than a fine art.
Chippies may be declining around the country, along with pretty much everything else, but it’s hard to believe fish and chips could ever die out on this fair isle.
Especially when Chelsea’s Cole Palmer has blessedly brought “chippy chips” back to the height of the zeitgeist.
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But as much as pretty much all of us have been treated to a cod (or haddock) and chips with a side of mushy peas, it turns out there’s more to the humble chippy than meets the eye. Especially where the vinegar is concerned.
As condiments go, it’s about as synonymous with chip shops as ketchup, mushy peas, and curry sauce.
Whether a hint of the stuff is enough for you, or you want to try reanimating your fish fillet with a dense vinegar bath, it’s a staple ingredient in our national dish.
But, as it turns out, chip shop vinegar is often a fraud masquerading as the real thing.
Tom Scott, a YouTuber known for his successful did-you-know videos, shared a clip where he claimed that some chip shops are using a malt vinegar substitute: a cocktail of water, acetic acid, and flavourings.
"Most people don’t know that this isn’t vinegar. Legally, it can’t be described as vinegar," he claims.
"Trading standards are really clear on that. It cannot be put in the little bottles that people traditionally associate with vinegar."
But why would any humble chippy court such controversy?
Well it appears to be cost-related. The substitute is bought in a concentrated solution that’s cheap to transport and store, and it’s easy to dilute and pass off as the real thing.
There are some more ethical and inclusive reasons for it, too, namely that it’s suitable for halal and gluten-free customers.
Nevertheless, the news rubbed some people up the wrong way.
"That explains why it doesn't taste the same when I put vinegar on my fish and chips at home," said one person.
"I would say it absolutely does matter from a taste perspective,” said another. “The real stuff just tastes so much better."
A third added: "This would explain the ‘weak as p**s’ taste to chippie vinegar these days. They dilute it too much."
If you’re wondering why anyone’s bothered about the news, you’re not alone.
“I had absolutely no idea!” said one such commenter. “And now that I know, I couldn’t care less. I have actually always preferred the vinegar on the counter and always wondered why it tastes better than the well known branded bottle in my cupboard!"
Another added: "Chip shop ‘non-brewed condiment’ tastes much better on chips than malt vinegar, but real vinegar tastes better on other things, like a fry up, egg-bread and fried bread and cheese."
It’s fair to say we’ve all got bigger fish to fry.