Place chips in brown paper bag; this will instantly become translucent. Lay fish on top. Add salt and vinegar - please use cheap brown vinegar, none of that fancy, namby-pamby stuff.

Yeah. None of that balsamic crap – tastes awful with chips. Incidentally, though they don’t do the proper fish ‘n’ chips experience, there is a British pub near here that does offer malt vinegar with thick-cut chips.

Australian fish and chips are similar except we don't have cod or haddock; we tend to use flake, which I believe is actually shark of some kind.

Correct; specifically, of the dead kind.

Incidentally, one of the more romantic dates I had was down the coast, my now-wife and I bought some fish and chips and a local grease ‘n’ gristle, took it down to the beach, I stuck a couple of candles in the sand and we ate our meal by candlelight with the sound of the waves breaking behind us. Ver’ nice.

I eat no meat or poultry so that saved me from the awful looking meat pies they enjoyed.

Diss not the meat pie. I shall be having meat pie later this week, if all goes to plan. (Yes, in Philly it necessitates a plan.)

Plus, food that is deep-fried properly shouldn't actually be all that greasy.

Much depends on how often they change their oil.

Mmmm...meat pies....

I won't eat any form of breaded, fried fish, so in my English year I got chicken and chips or just plain chips. But mmm....nice thick chips with vinegar...mmmm....

(To be edible, fish has to be extremely fresh, and prepared in a way that minimizes fishy flavor, hence my dislike of the fish half of fish-n-chips. There's a place down the road from my house that does a nice broiled halibut with mango salsa--that's more my speed.)

I won't eat any form of breaded, fried fish, so in my English year I got chicken and chips or just plain chips. But mmm....nice thick chips with vinegar...mmmm....

I'm not a big fan of fish either; but every so often, some properly battered (not breaded) and fried fish can be a delight.

I am wholly against boiled fish, which is revolting and makes me want to hurl. Especially after an unfortunate week in hospital, where I was already nauseous and they kept trying to serve it to me.

I don't think I've ever encountered boiled fish--it's always fried, broiled, grilled, sauteed, etc.

and a local grease ‘n’ gristle

What does this mean??

meara, are you thinking of HP Sauce?

Quite possible, I have no idea what it was called. It was brown. And um, saucy. I recall very little, it having been four years ago, and, as I said, hazed with alcohol. I just remember liking it a lot...

No doubt it is a personal preference item as the rest of the family loved gram's F&C's. Broiled with mango salsa is much more my style. Blackened is even better. Gee, is it lunch time yet?

What does this mean??

Fast food store, ranging the whole gamut of fried foods.

I just got F&C for lunch.

Where did you get it, Tom?

A strange shop on Fulton street with a Chinese proprietor. I got the "whiting" fish, and a weird substance the man said was vinegar. But since it was a few hundred yards from the fish market, at least it was fresh.

Wait a second, people try to put non-malt vinegar on fries/chips?? EW.