Fish and Chips - Blogabond

We drove at least half an hour out of our way last night to get the 'best' fish and chips in the world last night. Apparently this is not an English tradition, just a Webster one. Rachel has been moaning all year about our chips being horrible, so I was interested in the 'amazing' English ones. The main difference was that they were cut from fresh potatoes with their skins on and were a lot greasier. They also only ate them with vinegar and no tomato sauce. They were a nicer colour than our sort of grey ones too. However, I don't think I would go into raptures over them! Our fish is fresher so I guess the idea is to get English chips and NZ fish and you'd have the perfect meal.

I have been enduring comments about sheep, the fact that we are part of Australia, and inferences to us being a 'warder' country because the warders of the convict colonies must have settled in NZ. I find I have to be slightly polite about English things, however, because I'm very outnumbered. It's also interesting to hear Rachel describing NZ things to her family. :)

Kathryn (Rachel's mum) was very interested in the way we eat Corned Silverside. Rachel had told her how much she enjoyed it because the McGrath's had cooked it in their crockpot the way we do. I was trying to describe it but was very difficult because they had no concept. Their corned beef only comes in tins. How is it made? (not how is it cooked, I know that)

Anyway, it's raining again today so I might go and read some more history books. Wishing you were all here to enjoy this with me.

written by

Abby Benton on January 21, 2008 from Worsthorne, United Kingdom

from the travel blog: UK

Send a Compliment

Corning is done to more meats than just beef but not very common, and is essentially a salting process used to tenderise and preserve otherwise tough cuts of meat, often brisket. Corned beef and cabbage is traditional St Patrick's day meal for the irish but they call it salt beef. Keith (my foreman originally from Manchester) had never had corned silverside outside a tin until he came to New Zealand either. The tinned stuff is not really corned at all and is full of fat. If they get too cheeky just call them a bunch of lousy Manks (sp?) (Manks - ppl from manchester) and they are no better than Scousers (ppl from liverpool). Tell them that if our sheep are so bad why do they eat so much of it and living next door to sheep is alot better than living next to a whole lot of englishmen. More polite for a start and smell better. Probably talk more sense as well.
And tell them that if the English education system was really up to scratch then they would know that New Zealand was never settled by convicts or warders and instead was initially ppled by pioneers driven from england by the repressive class system and lack of opportunity. Instead the first New Zealand settlers were a hardy bunch of ppl who had the balls to leave behind the old country and start a better one. The first settlers to arrive in New Zealand came over on ships organised by 'The New Zealand Company'. This company was responsible for the initial settlement of New Zealand by thousands of settlers.

written by Daniel Benton on January 22, 2008

comment on this...