Eighty per cent of the British population say they visit a fish and chip shop at least once a year, and we consume 382 million meals from the chippie per annum.
百分之八十的英国人称他们至少每年去一次炸鱼薯条店,我们每年在炸鱼薯条店消费3.82亿餐。
That's pretty impressive for a combination that's only been with us for around 150 years – for the first fish and chip shop only appeared in around 1860.
对于这个只有150年历史的组合来说,这个数字相当可观——在1860年左右,炸鱼薯条店才第一次出现。
Separately, both fried fish, and chips, were enjoyed by the British well before they came together.
在成为组合之前,炸鱼和薯条分别受到了广大英国百姓的喜爱。
Chips as a term for something edible was in use in the 18th Century, often in relation, rather curiously, to oranges - orange chips were candied chunks of peel.
在18世纪,薯片作为一个可食用物的术语为人所使用,很奇怪的是,它常常与橙子有关——橙子薯片是橙子皮做成的大块糖果。
It was in the same century that the potato was going from knobbly curiosity to staple food, especially for the poor, and given how well potatoes lend themselves to deep frying, it was inescapable that potato chips would soon be on the scene.
也是在18世纪,土豆从满是疙瘩的奇物变成了餐桌上的主食,于穷人而言更是如此。鉴于土豆适合油炸,薯片就应运而生了。
By the Victorian era, chipped potatoes were everywhere, from the delicate little 'straw potatoes' - which resembled, well, straw - eaten by the rich, to the French street food, which Dickens described as "husky chips of potatoes fried with some reluctant drops of oil".
到了维多利亚时代,土豆片随处可见,从精致的富人吃的小“稻草薯条”——形似稻草——到法国街头小吃,狄更斯称之为“用几滴不情愿用的油油炸的粗糙土豆片”。
The British preferred baked potatoes, but they ate them fried too.
英国人喜欢烤土豆,但他们也吃油炸的。
Fried fish, meanwhile, was also on the tables of the rich and the poor.
与此同时,炸鱼也是富人和穷人的吃食。
Bread-crumbed filets, delicately fried in butter and garnished with fried parsley, were a staple for upmarket meals.
面包糠鱼片,用黄油精心油炸,再配上油炸西芹,就成了高档餐点的主食之一。
Whitebait, fried in lard, were considered a delicious delicacy.
油炸银鱼被认为是美味佳肴。
But there was another place fried fish could be bought, and that was the street - in the Jewish quarters of London and other big cities.
但是还有另外一个地方可以买到炸鱼,那就是街上——在伦敦和其他大城市的犹太人区。
There, Sephardic Jews sold cold fried fish intended for eating on the Sabbath when no cooking was allowed in Jewish homes.
在那里,西班牙系犹太人出售冷冻炸鱼,以备在安息日食用,因为那天犹太家中不允许烹饪。
It quickly took off, being cheap, filling and tasty, and fried fish shops and market stalls - hot and cold - sprung up in cities across the UK. It was inevitable that these two street foods, so popular with the masses, would end up being sold in combination.
炸鱼迅速流行开来,因为它价格便宜、馅丰满、味道鲜美,炸鱼商店和市场摊位——出售现做或冷冻的炸鱼——在英国各地的城市如雨后春笋般涌现。不可避免地,这两种深受大众欢迎的街头食品最终会组合出售。
It proved a winning formula and fish and chip shops took off immediately.
事实证明,这是一个成功的配方,炸鱼薯条店一片繁荣。
Trawl fishing and the railway boom of the 1870s helped fish to reach inland areas quicker than ever before, and potatoes were already grown everywhere.
19世纪70年代,拖网捕鱼和铁路繁荣让鱼类史无前例地快速送达内陆地区,土豆业已在各地种植。
By 1910 there were 25,000 fish and chip shops in the UK, and by 1929 there were 10,000 more.
截至1910年,英国的炸鱼薯片商店有25,000家,但到了1929年,这种商店又增加了10,000个。
Such was the hold of fish and chips - and its genuine goodness, especially for its mainly working-class consumers - that during the Second World War, fish and chips remained off the ration, though the type of fish available was not always the most delicious or desirable of species.
这就是一盘炸鱼薯片,它营养价值高,尤其是对其主要的工人阶级消费者而言——在第二次世界大战期间,鱼和薯条一直无法定量供应,尽管可供使用的鱼并不总是最美味或最受欢迎的品种。
Across the UK, accompaniments vary - from the mushy peas of the north, to curry sauce, ketchup, mayonnaise or the chip shop spice which is on every counter in Hull.
在英国各地,炸鱼薯片的配菜各不相同——从北方的豌豆泥到赫尔每个柜台上的咖喱酱、番茄酱、蛋黄酱或薯片店的香料。
Salt and vinegar remain the staples.
盐和醋仍然是最主要的。
In the 21st Century chippie, vegetable fats have often replaced beef dripping or lard for frying.
在21世纪的炸鱼薯条店中,植物油经常代替牛油或猪油用于油炸。
Newspaper used to be the wrapping of choice - outlawed, unless fresh from the printers and unsullied by readers' hands, in 1968.
报纸曾经是人们首选的包装材料——而在1968年,除非报纸刚从印刷厂出来,并且没有被读者弄脏,否则用报纸包装是非法的。
Now it's mainly plain paper and polystyrene, but the skillful wrapping and excitement of unwrapping remains.
现在主要的包装材料是普通纸张和聚苯乙烯,但巧妙的包装和拆开包装时的兴奋感仍然存在。
There are, however, fish and chips… and fish and chips.
然而,拆开包装都是炸鱼薯条......和炸鱼薯条。
Witness the disappointment on the faces of tourists, lured by the promise of a great British delicacy, only to find they've happened upon the bad version, all grease and soggy batter.
看看游客们脸上失望的神情,他们为英国的美食所吸引,却买到了不好吃的那一种——又油腻又潮湿。
But then when it's good… well, it's crispy and fluffy, with a hit of vinegar, and a punch of salt.
但如果你买到地道好吃的炸鱼薯条……嗯,加上一点醋和一些盐,它又脆又蓬松。
It's unbeatable.
简直无懈可击。
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