Are fish and chips really british's national dish - Essay Example

Fish and chips are a traditional food in the United Kingdom and one of the few dishes that is distinctively British (Smith, 2006:103). The dish contains a piece of fish, usually cod, or haddock that undergo dipping in butterfat and then deep-fried. Cut potatoes that are deep-fried to produce a product named chips is the usual companion of the fish. The dish is served in paper, seasoned with salt and vinegar, and its consumption or eating is done using the fingers or a wooden fork. Most towns in the UK have numerous restaurants band fast food joints that serve fish and chips.

Fish and chips have a long history because they existed during the Victorian era and by twentieth century; the dish had gained popularity and British regarded it as a symbol of British identity and class (Le Besco, 2008:33). More so, chips and fish were important form of sustenance during two world wars. In spite of fish and chips venturing in to diverse nations in the world, chips and the fish seemed to have stolen the hearts of the Britons (Smith, 2006:103). This is the case because the British have embraced it as their national food to the extent that they have formed annual awards that award the best restaurants that serve the best fish and chips.

For instance, the National Fish & Chip Awards were held for the 25th time in 2013 this year, and The Bay in Stone haven, Aberdeen shire, got the awards as the best British fish and chips shop in Britain. To proof this point, scholars researched on the intensive perception of the British in consuming fish and chips in 1999. Their research findings claimed that the Britons consumed approximately 300 million servings of fish and chips. This is equivalent to six servings for everybody in the country.

More so, statistics claim that there are around 8,500 fish and chip shops across the UK, and McDonald’s outlet is the favorite outlet that serves this dish (Smith, 2006:103). Argument against the fact that fish and chips are British’s national dish With current changes, the chips and fish perception seem to be changing as well. These changes are a result of stiff competition from other take away food such as pizzas and burgers. More so, the other major reason as to why British are opting for other food is because they are becoming health conscious since fish and chips contain and partly due to health concern over the high fat content of fish and chips (Smith, 2006:111).

Still in this section, fish and chips have become more expensive as the days go by and that is why people are opting otherwise. Current survey, British cuisine boosts a wide range of tastes, which may vary from region to region. Many of their dishes are foods like meat, fish, potatoes, flour, butter, and eggs. Main dishes are products of beef, lamb, chicken, fish, or pork whose accompaniment is potatoes or carrots, peas, cabbages and onions. Some of the main dishes have strange names like Toad-in-the-Hole and Bubble & Squeak and.

In addition, some of the most common and typical foods, very popular in England are sandwiches, pies, trifle and roasts dinners (Smith, 2006:111). However, above all these dishes, sandwich tops them all. Sandwich invention came earlier than even the chips because it estimates claim that sandwich was invented in the mid seventeenth century. The sandwich idea came from a certain gambler who asked a waiter to offer him a piece of ham that he placed between the two